Sweden countdown: This year’s route
Around one third is different to 2014
Østberg warms up with Norway win
Mads Østberg completed his preparations for this week’s Rally Sweden (12 - 15 February) by winning Rally Finnskog in his native Norway at the weekend.
He piloted Citroen’s DS 3 WRC to a 57.8sec victory after winning six of the seven snow-covered stages covering almost 150km, and led from start to finish.
Østberg’s car ran in WRC-specification rather than to the Norwegian Championship regulations and the 27-year-old had to sweep the roads through fresh snow which fell midway through the one-day event.
“It was demanding but tremendous fun,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t have full control but it was a hugely important recce ahead of next weekend.”
Runner-up was Eyvind Brynildsen in a Ford Fiesta RRC, his second consecutive Norwegian Championship maximum points haul. Brynildsen will be in WRC 2 action in Sweden in a one-off appearance alongside Jari Ketomaa for the Drive DMACK World Rally Team.
“Rally Sweden is a key event for me and we certainly go there aiming to fight for a win. This is my home round of the WRC so I’m hoping for some local support as it’s going to be a big fight with other drivers like Pontus Tidemand and Jari,” said Brynildsen.
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