Challenging first day in Rally Sweden for Mads Østberg



It became a challenging and dramatic first day in the New Ford Fiesta WRC for Mads Østberg and codriver Ola Fløene in Rally Sweden. They first had to accept 50 seconds time penalty after being five minutes late out of service in Torsby. Technical issues with the front diff and a gearbox change was the reason for the penalty. Then on the first stage (SS4) after service the rear wing broke from the car when they were travelling at nearly 200 km/h.

-It was a nasty and dramatic experience. The areodynamics on these new cars generate so much downforce and when you loose the rear wing and consequently more or less all rear downforce and grip, its not nice at all, says Mads Østberg.

Driving two more stages without the rear wing gave further timeloss and the team elected not to drive the last stage (SS8) before service in Torsby. The team will start Saturday under Rally 2 rules, a total of ten minutes behind rally leader Thierry Neuville.