Mads Ostberg will use the remaining four rounds of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship to prove he’s worthy of a factory ride in the global series.
The 24-year-old from Norway is a strong fourth in the drivers’ standings heading to Wales Rally GB next week on the back of an impressive campaign in his privateer Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which included his maiden victory in Portugal back in April.
During Neste Oil Rally Finland last month, Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson said Ostberg’s performance on the third stage of the event, when he was second fastest, was worthy of a seat with Blue Oval’s works team should one become available.
Now Ostberg wants to turn this interest into a full-time job after he admitted that he’s unsure what his future in the WRC will hold if he does not get chosen for an opportunity with a factory-backed team due to the financial strain he’s under.
“It’s getting more and more difficult to continue privately,” said Ostberg. “We find it difficult to find the full budget to do it properly now so a factory seat is definitely what we are looking for. But I have to show I’m good enough, so firstly I need to show my pace and show what we can do on the remaining events. If I’m not good enough then I don’t deserve [a factory drive] and I won’t complain about it. But if we do well on the last rallies we will push hard to get the factory seat.”
Ostberg, who drives for his family’s Adapta World Rally Team in the WRC, continued: “We have more potential than what we have shown so far. Unfortunately we are not able to get the full budget to do the testing we want and the testing we need to be able to get up to the top level. With a good opportunity and a full test programme we should be able to fight further up. I hope we will get into a factory seat but it’s not for me to decide unfortunately.”