MOTORSPORT: Ostberg withdraws from Rally Australia
Collision with logging truck during reconnaissance leaves Norwegian with broken ribsA horrifying reconnaissance accident for Mads Ostberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson has resulted in the Citroen DS 3 WRC pairing withdrawing from Rally Australia before the event has officially started.
Ostberg and Andersson met with an errant logging truck as they were preparing pace notes for the event on Tuesday (September 8). The rally commences with a shakedown on Thursday before the first special stages begin on Friday.
“We collided head on with a truck which was driving on the wrong side of the gravel road,” explained Ostberg. “We simply couldn’t avoid it. Fortunately, the car’s safety features did their job”. That car, incidentally, was not a Citroen but a specially-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution recce car with top-spec roll cage and safety equipment.
“We tried to continue with recce [on Wednesday], but it would be impossible for us to compete properly and safely in the rally. We have therefore pulled out on the grounds of force majeure. We’re very disappointed, because we believed we would be competitive and could fight to regain third place in the Drivers’ World Championship,” Ostberg concluded.
Emerging Citroen driver Stephane Lefebvre, who recently participated in Rally Germany in a third DS 3 WRC after a string of strong WRC2 performances in an R5 Citroen, will take over DS 3 WRC number 4 for the event.
Levebvre and co-driver Stephane Prevot – Chris Atkinson’s co-driver last season – were already in Coffs Harbour, having completed a pre-event reconnaissance of their own in preparation for future events. They will be entitled to gain manufacturer points for the French car-maker.
“Without any pre-event preparation, we are not expecting him to be competitive,” said Marek Nawarecki, Citroen WRT’s deputy team principal. “But it will be another opportunity for him to learn about rallying at this level. We’ll be asking him to finish the rally to score some points in the Manufacturers‘ World Championship.”
Levebvre added: “I feel very sorry for Mads and Jonas, because we’re all part of a big family at Citroën Racing. I hope they’ll be back to full fitness very quickly.”
It will be a big challenge for the young Frenchman, having never driven the World Rally Car on gravel before, though his pace in the DS3 R5 has been exceptional at times this season.
“Ordinarily, I prepare for a rally several weeks in advance by watching on-board camera footage from previous years to get a feel for the stages. I won’t be able to do that here, but all experience is welcome and I’m grateful to Citroën Racing for having put their faith in me. I’ll be treating this first rally with the respect it deserves, to try and meet the target set for me by the team.”
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