Practice rally pace pleases Ostberg

Mads Ostberg says his pace against Mikko Hirvonen on the Norwegian championship Rally Finnskog last weekend could be a telling factor when the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia resumes in Sweden this week.

Ostberg and Hirvonen fought out a close battle for victory on the Karlstad contest one year ago with Hirvonen just doing enough to beat the young Norwegian, whose second-place finish marked his first podium in the WRC.

While the 24-year-old has stopped short of claiming he can win the snow event this year, he is convinced he has what it takes to fight for a top-three finish once again after contesting a trio of practice rallies since the turn of the year.

“With all this practice I know I can compete with the best and fight for the podium,” said Ostberg. “I was faster than Hirvonen in three of the stages [on Rally Finnskog] and knowing that before going to Sweden gives me a confidence boost. I’ve had valuable practice in all three rallies this year.”

Ostberg was using last Saturday’s rally to try out his new Ford Fiesta RS WRC in competition for the first time following a last-minute panic to ready his 2012 challenger. A few unforeseen technical problems prevented him from testing as planned last Thursday and it took the delivery of replacement parts from England to enable Ostberg to carry out a short test on Friday night.

“We hoped we would be more prepared but this time it wasn’t even possible,” said Ostberg. “But Rally Finnskog was important to me and gave me the practice I needed.”