Ostberg expects tough fight for top six

Mads Ostberg concedes he will have a fight on his hands to break into the top six on ADAC Rallye Deutschland, round nine of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Norwegian, who is sporting a shorter “Tarmac spec” haircut for Germany, has enjoyed more success on gravel during his career, winning Portugal’s round of the WRC back in April, and only managed a short test for the all-asphalt event in Trier.

“I know it will be difficult because the the four factory drivers will be strong, Dani Sordo is back in his MINI and Thierry Neuville will be extremely quick and will challenge the factory guys,” said Ostberg. “It’s going to be difficult but we want to mix in with those six guys and aim for a top six. That’s what we will be fighting for.”

Ostberg, who will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the Adapta World Rally Team, prepared for the event with a short test in Germany recently.

“We have done 50 kilometres of testing on a 1.4-kilometre road,” he explained. “It’s not optimal but that’s what we could do. I must blame myself a little bit for crashing in shakedown on Rally Bohemia because that was the test for this event. We know we have points to improve both on the driving and on the car and we will use the shakedown [today] to the maximum to be ready when the rally starts.”