Moments that made ERC 2023 great: Østberg's giant leap of the McRae kind

The place where FIA World Rally Championship drivers used to fly high in the thick of the Swedish winter when Värmland hosted the WRC-counting Rally Sweden, formed part of the all-gravel route that made up round five of the 2023 ERC season from 6 - 8 July.  

Named in memory of the late Colin McRae, Colin’s Crest was located close to the finish of the 9.01-kilometre Colins stage, used twice during the final leg of BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia, including as the event-deciding Power Stage last summer.

As well as the challenge of negotiating the high-speed jump and making the landing intact, Eyvind Brynildsen’s long-standing 45-metre Colin’s Crest record was the big target for the ERC stars.  

Having been hampered by a power issue on leg one, Brynildsen’s fellow Norwegian, Mads Ostberg, was determined to make his mark on his ‘home’ round of the ERC. And he did just that with a new Colin’s Crest record of 47 metres aboard his MRF-equipped Citroën C3 Rally2.