Østberg looks to Liepajā as Poland Power Stage win keeps him in the ERC title fight

After non-scoring on Rally Islas Canarias earlier this month, Østberg completed the all-gravel counter with a pair of fastest stage times – including on the event-deciding Power Stage – to register a total of 24 points in his pursuit of provisional championship leader Hayden Paddon.

“It’s five points [extra] for us and we need those points so it was positive [to finish the rally like this],” said Østberg. “We obviously didn’t come here for fourth position but we struggled a bit more through the rally than what we expected.

“On Saturday afternoon we were strong when the grip was higher and [on Sunday] we were fighting as hard as we could in the morning and then in the afternoon we could control a little more.”

Norwegian Østberg, who was competing in a Citroën C3 Rally2 under the MRF Tyres Dealer Team banner, continued: “We enjoyed the rally a lot because it’s really amazing stages and we can take some of the knowledge onto the next rally in Liepāja, which is a little bit similar to what we find in Poland. We are strong on the second pass which means when the grip is a little bit higher it helps and Liepāja has a bit more grip than Poland.

Latvia-based Tet Rally Liepāja takes place from 16 - 18 June and uses high-speed gravel stages.