Autosportfoto

Østberg warmed up for Italy

Mads Østberg is ready to implement the second part of his strategy for success at Rally Italia Sardegna (7 - 10 june) this week.

He promised a ‘big push' on the tricky gravel event after learning Citroen's C3 during his first dirt road outing in the car when finishing sixth at Vodafone Rally de Portugal last month.

"You need to find the right balance between pushing where you can and defending when there is a real risk of smashing the car. I learned a lot about the C3 WRC in Portugal and ended up by showing some pretty decent speed," said the Norwegian.

Østberg identified the C3's suspension and chassis balance as areas for improvement before a test in Sardinia last weekend.

"It's the suspension where I think we can gain a lot more grip. We have really good and strong suspension on the car and we need to take the benefit of that and use it to the full.

"Also chassis balance is in my opinion something we need to work on. They have introduced a new geometry on the car and it's working well, but it takes a little bit of time to get everything well balanced," he told wrc.com.

The French manufacturer introduced a new rear axle at April's YPF Rally Argentina which was well-received by the drivers. It was the latest in a series of changes to provide more consistent handling and improve driver confidence.

Østberg carries plenty of Sardinia experience into the seventh round of the season. He has 10 starts to his name and finished second in 2014. He joins Craig Breen in the line-up for his third Citroën outing of the year.

Zdroj: wrc.com