World Rally refugee Ostberg samples Skoda Fabia Supercar and considers race outings in World Rallycross

Sidelined Citroen World Rally Championship driver Mads Ostberg is considering a partial campaign in the World Rallycross Championship this season, alongside his rally programme.

Ostberg tested ES Motorsport’s Skoda Fabia Supercar at Mettet in Belgium before Christmas, his first time driving a Supercar. He completed three four-lap runs in damp, low grip conditions.

“It was a lot of fun to be honest, I really enjoyed it,” Ostberg told MN. “I’ve seen events and I’ve been on a few [rallycross] tracks but always with a rally car, so this was the first time I drove a Supercar. But OK, the WRC cars these days are quite fast as well so it was not such a big difference as it probably would have been five years ago.”

The 31-year old says he could drive in selected rounds with the team this season, but that a full campaign is unlikely.

He said: “It was an invitation I didn’t want to say no to. I’m not ruling out the possibility of doing some [World RX] events but to do the full championship might be difficult. It’s completely depending on my plans in rallying, maybe we can find a combination. I would be honest and say that rally is still my target for the next years to come but it was my first experience of rallycross today and I really loved it so I’m not ruling out anything.”

Ostberg was joined at Mettet by the squad’s test driver, Kevin Abbring, while former Ford and Audi World RX driver Andreas Bakkerud also completed a day of running with the team behind closed doors. Although heavily linked with Nasser Al-attiyah, ES Motorsport is yet to confirm a driver line-up for 2019.