Mads Østberg reckons his scintillating second place on Rally Finland will result in his full-time WRC return in 2019.
The Norwegian was the only man to challenge winner Ott Tänak on the gravel classic; swapping the lead several times on Friday before the Toyota man pulled clear on Saturday as Østberg lost tyre grip. However, after starting only three events with Citroën this season, Østberg was pleased with his performance.
"I would say this is the most important thing I have done in my life,” said the Norwegian. “I hope this is me back in the WRC [full-time], it's been a long way back and I have done a lot of work behind the scenes. Two years ago was the lowest point and it turned around from there. I was happy with my 2017 season. It showed me the level we compete at and gave me new respect for this sport.”
But he did not have a factory drive last year and ran his own team, using a current World Rally Car. It was a solution that that proved to be economically unsustainable. Then he struck a deal Citroën to compete in three rallies this year. After that, when the team sacked Kris Meeke, it became a season taking in every event except Catalunya.
"Staying at home showed me how much this sport means to me,” Østberg added. “When you have something and it's gone, it really hurts and that made me fight to get it back. I had some opportunities, I used them and I'm really proud of that. It feels natural to be back with Citroën .”
The French C3 car showed a dramatic improvement in Finland, a year after it had been off the pace in a terrible maiden season that led to a root and branch overhaul that was completed last weekend.
In Finland Improved front geometry helped Østberg’s charge to second. However, he said that his own set-up gave him greater confidence driving the car.
“I tried this new geometry for the first time before Sardinia and it made the front of the car much sharper," he added. “This meant we could be soft on the suspension, but we kept the reaction from the front. When the new rear geometry came – in Argentina – I didn't like it so much, because this gave more grip at the back of the car and you had to go softer at the front to cope with that so you lost that reaction.
"When we came to the Finland test, I told the team this was the best car I ever had for this rally. We expected Toyota would be so far ahead we would be fighting for fourth place. After all they tested for something like 20 days and we were here for three. It's amazing to be able to fight with them. I drove some of the best stages in my life in that battle with Jari-Matti Latvala."
