Citroën and Ostberg at the front at Finland shakedown

The course serving as a shakedown rally of Finland allowed the official Citroën Racing team to get into shape perfectly. On a 4,26 km long path adjacent to the Jyväskylä service park, Mads Ostberg beat his teammate Craig Breen.

Shakedown completed for our C3 WRC crews here at @RallyFinland
@MadsOstberg 1:54.8
2 @Craig_Breen 1:55.4
12 @khalidbinfaisal 2:00.9#WRC #C3WRC pic.twitter.com/FY5ulFmLxP

— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) July 26, 2018

Contested on Thursday morning, training for the eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar saw Mads ostberg sign the best time in 1'54''8. The Norwegian is just six tenths ahead of Irishman Craig Breen. The Citroën C3 WRCs seem very comfortable in Finland, as stage local Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) is relegated to just over a second.

Third thief in the general classification, Ott Tänak (Toyota) drove in the same times as its Finnish colleague (+1”1). The first Ford Fiesta prepared by M-Sport is ranked fifth, thanks to Teemu Sunninen (+1''8), who is a breath ahead of the leader of the Drivers' ranking, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai, +1''8).

The outgoing champion Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) did not tease the clock, as evidenced by its ninth best time by almost two and a half seconds. The opening super special of Rally Finland will begin at 18 p.m. Thursday evening with the Harju special, 2,31 km long.

WRC Rally Finland 2018 shakedown standings:
1. M. Ostberg (Citroën) 1:54.8
2. C. Breen (Citroën) +0.6
3. J.-M. Latvala (Toyota)+1.1
4. O. Tänak (Toyota) +1.2
5. T. Suninen (M-Sport Ford) +1.8
6. T. Neuville (Hyundai) +1.8
7. A. Mikkelsen (Hyundai) +1.9
8. H. Paddon (Hyundai) +2.0
9. S. Ogier (M-Sport Ford) +2.4
10. E. Lappi (Toyota) +2.5
11. E. Evans (M-Sport Ford) +3.0