Precautionary checks for Ostberg after crash

Mads Ostberg has escaped injury in a crash during shakedown for Rally Bohemia, a round of the Czech national championship, earlier today.

Ostberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson, frontrunners in the FIA World Rally Championship, were tackling the asphalt event in Mlada Boleslav in a Ford Fiesta Regional Rally Car in preparation for the WRC’s upcoming sealed-surface rounds.

While Andersson was uninjured, Ostberg was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after complaining of back pains.

His father Morten Ostberg, boss of the Adapta World Rally Team, said: “He is checked out from hospital and on his feet again. The doctors feared his back may have been broken in two places, but gladly it wasn’t that bad.”

The accident means Ostberg Jr and Andersson won’t take any further part on Rally Bohemia and their participation on the gravel-based Rally Estonia next weekend is now in doubt. Ostberg and Andersson were using the Baltic event as preparation for Neste Oil Rally Finland, round eight of the world championship.

“Mads was supposed to go to Estonia next weekend, but we have to see how he is doing before we make up our minds,” said Ostberg Sr, who confirmed his son would be seeing a back specialist in his native Norway