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Solid performance in Deutschland

M-Sport World Rally Team's Mads Østberg continued his solid performance at this week's Rallye Deutschland and currently holds sixth place overall. Following his first-stage mistake, Éric Camilli was back in action and swiftly went about rebuilding his confidence.

Asphalt is not Østberg's preferred surface, but he has held his own today. The Norwegian secured his best result at the German fixture in 2012 when he claimed fourth place behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Since then, his highest finish was sixth in 2014 and he is on course to equal that this weekend.

Putting their vast experience to good use, he and co-driver Ola Fløene kept their Ecoboost-powered Fiesta firmly planted to the stages. Avoiding the pitfalls that caught out a number of others, they are positioned just outside of the top-five.

With four challenging stages left to contest, Østberg's famed consistency means that they could well progress over the remaining kilometres - perfectly positioned to take advantage of any time loss ahead.

In the sister M-Sport Fiesta RS WRC, Camilli and co-driver Benjamin Veillas returned to the stages following yesterday's early exit. After a cautious start, the Frenchmen quickly rebuilt their confidence and proceeded to regain speed.

A measured approach over the first few stages worked to their advantage, and Camilli had the better of his vastly more experienced team mates through a number of the later speed tests.

There is still a lot to learn, but the Frenchman is as determined as ever and refuses to give up as he learns the art of this notoriously difficult trade.

Elsewhere in the M-Sport service area, there was disappointment for Ott Tänak and Raigo Mõlder. The pairing had been running in fifth place before suffering an alternator failure towards the end of SS11.

Side-lined for the remainder of the day, the Estonians will restart under Rally 2 regulations tomorrow.

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Mads Østberg (6th) said:

"We didn't have much to lose today so we tried a few different set-ups. Some of it was okay, but not everything and we need to work a little bit more on that. We'll try something new again tomorrow to see if we can be a bit more confident out on the stages. We found something that seemed to work quite well on the rear, but tomorrow we need to make the front a little bit better too."

Éric Camilli (60th) said:

"After yesterday, we had to rebuild some confidence over the first few stages but then, step by step, we made some good improvements. By the afternoon we were on the same pace as Mads which is quite good when you consider how much experience he has here.

"I like tomorrow's stages and I have some more confidence after today so we will try to continue with the same pace and maybe push a little bit more. We know where we lost some time today, so I can learn from that and put it into practice tomorrow."

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

"Rallye Deutschland doesn't seem to be our event. Over the years we have never won here, and we certainly won't be occupying the top step of the podium this year either!

"It's been a difficult day in many ways. Firstly, I speak for the entire team in wishing Stephane [Lefebvre] and Gabin [Moreau] our best wishes and a swift recovery.

"Éric and Benjamin were the first on the scene of the accident and, after the day they had yesterday, that can't have been easy. But they acted with great maturity, professionalism and responsibility - assisting the rescue teams as much as possible and ensuring that both Stephane and Gabin were okay.

"Asphalt is not Mads' preferred surface, but he's kept out of trouble and is on course to equal the best result he has had here since 2012.

"Away from the world stage, we had some fantastic news on home soil as victory at the Ulster Rally was enough to crown Elfyn [Evans] and Craig [Parry] 2016 MSA British Rally Champions. They have performed brilliantly, and I have seen a lot of positives in the way they have approached this year.

"They'll be back in the World Rally Championship before the end of the season. We just need to assess the events and determine which will give them the best shot of securing another championship this year."