Citroen Abu Dhabi tightened their grip on third place at Rally Finland with Mads Ostberg moving up a place following the retirement of teammate Kris Meeke.
Meeke had started the penultimate day in fine fettle and was comfortably third behind Volskwagen Polo R pair Jari-Matti Latvala and Sebastien Ogier.
“My times were good and I’m really enjoying the drive,” Meeke said prior to his accident. “One year we’ll come back and get right in the thick of it. Yes I’m not in the fight for the first place but I’m happy to prove what our DS 3 WRC could do.”
The Briton was in fact posting faster times than Latvala until the first 1.4 kilometres of SS16 where he slid off the road and hit a tree. The accident broke the front left suspension of his car which resulted in his withdrawal.
Subsequently, Meeke’s retirement led to Ostberg’s promotion to third place.
“It was a difficult stage,” Ostberg said. “I had a few wide corners near the beginning so I decided immediately to go into safe mode. There’s no point in risking it here.
“It’s a good day for me, some of the stages were narrow and tricky in some places, but felt like an autobahn in others.”
Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi endured a tough start to the day as his pace notes were not matching the high speed of the special stages.
“It was a tricky start for me, my notes were not really perfect,” Sheikh Khalid said. “It’s so hard to get the speed right after the recce. Some of the stages were tight especially SS13, the stage was narrow and couldn’t keep the car on the line. It was all over the place. In general Finland is a unique event and it offers a great opportunity to gain huge experience.”
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