Pierre Budar: Ostberg “still impressed us”

Citroën Racing et Mads ostberg found their way to the podium at the rally from Finland last weekend. Second at the end of this eighth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Norwegian established his best result since the Argentina rally… in 2015 ! As for the French manufacturer, it had been almost five months since the podium was denied to it (third place for Kris Meeke in Mexico).

This is how @MadsOstberg and @TorsteinEriksen clinched their first podium in the #C3WRC in Finland! pic.twitter.com/flLze2njSg

— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) July 30, 2018

This performance delighted Pierre Budard, the director of Citroën Racing. “There are many reasons for satisfaction this weekend! With five best times, our car was the only one able to respond to that of the manufacturer installed on these lands (Toyota has headquarters in Finland), proof once again of its very high level of competitiveness on all terrains. »

It is true that the Citroën C3 WRC managed to get in between between two Toyota Yaris WRCs, on terrain that is more suitable for the Japanese car. “This result confirms that all the in-depth work carried out by the team, both in the race and at the factory, as well as in testing, is indeed going in the right direction. This also demonstrates the merits of the evolution approved for the occasion on the geometry of the front axle of our C3 WRC, as well as all the refinements once again made to damping or differentials”, explains the boss of the French team.

We did it! Finally back on the podium. This means so much to me! 2nd place at @RallyFinland Thanks to my fantastic team @CitroenRacing and my amazing co-driver @TorsteinEriksen It feels like a win! #WRC #teameffort #hardworkpaysoff pic.twitter.com/7XBXeipLHG

- Mads Østberg (@MadsOstberg) July 29, 2018

As for Mads Ostberg, it seems that the Norwegian, called to the rescue after the dismissal of Kris Meeke, scored big points in the mind of Pierre Budar. “We knew that Mads had a lot of experience in this round, we could also legitimately hope to do well, but I admit that he still impressed us, by being both particularly fast and very consistent, and thus resisting the best local specialists! »

This result does not prevent Citroën from keeping its fourth and last place in the Manufacturers' standings (153 points), 48 units behind Toyota.