Have-a-go hero: Mads Ostberg

A rally driver’s Scandinavian flick switch

Versatility across various racing categories has once more become a fashionable trait among top-flight drivers, typified by Fernando Alonso winning the Le Mans 24 Hours for Toyota in 2018 and again this year.

Yet, contextualised, the circuit-racing debut of World Rally Championship star Mads Ostberg in 2017 is perhaps an even more impressive feat (depending on how double Formula 1 champion Alonso gets on in the Dakar Rally next year).

It’s mid-september at a windy and overcast Mantorp Park in Sweden. Thanks to a gap in his calendar, Ostberg is able to swap his four-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta World Rally Car for a 911 GT3 Cup car ahead the final round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia season.

With just one shakedown completed and no competitive experience, Ostberg has only 90 minutes of practice to adapt to a completely different car and master wet-weather driving.

“I had absolutely no experience in circuit racing or racing other cars on track,” says Ostberg. “It was a great experience. To learn the car was great but to learn how to race was more difficult, especially in the rain in practice. People were driving everywhere to find the grip and I couldn’t understand what they were doing!”

The differences between the 911 GT3 and his regular rally cars are fairly evident. The Porsche’s engine is rear-mounted, its power goes through the rear wheels only and it puts out 80bhp more than the

WRC fleet. And although the wheelbase and dimensions remain similar, there is one thing Ostberg finds lacking as he trundles through the gravel after a botched qualifying attempt.

“Adapting to the Porsche was OK, except there was no handbrake!” he says.

While onboard video of the incident proved popular on social media, Ostberg’s prowess on track was equally as impressive. Having learned his racecraft over the course of two 20-minute encounters, he took a ninth and a seventh-place finish.

“Trying to think as a racing driver, protecting your position and trying to build up speed to pass other cars was also tricky,” Ostberg adds.

“I was side-by-side with this guy and I was trying to outbrake him into the corner. I felt, ‘OK, fifth is going to be mine’, but he had other ideas and went straight in front of me. So to avoid crashing, I had to brake and I just avoided going off.”

Ostberg returned to the series at Rudskogen earlier this year, climbing a total of 12 places to claim a 15th and an 11th-place finish.

“ADAPTING TO THE PORSCHE WAS OK, EXCEPT THERE WAS NO HANDBRAKE!”