Rally of Portugal winner Mads Ostberg will now make a straight choice between Prodrive Mini and M-Sport Ford for his 2013 World Rally Championship deal, after Citroen confirmed Dani Sordo as its second driver.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton had made it clear that Sordo and Ostberg were the rivals for his remaining factory seat next year. Sordo was duly announced as Citroen’s choice on Thursday morning.
Despite the Citroen decision going against him, Ostberg remained upbeat about his 2013 prospects.
“This is definitely not a disaster,” he said. “Citroen wasn’t my main choice, it was a choice for next year. Now it’s between Ford and Mini. Volkswagen is all sorted for its drivers.”
Ostberg has extensive knowledge of both Prodrive and M-Sport, having contested 17 WRC rounds with Prodrive-built Subaru and 25 with an M-Sport built Ford.
“I am happy with either team,” he said, “I have good experience with them both. Now I have to think about things and make a decision. I think we will know in one or two weeks where we are going.”
One of the key elements in Ostberg’s decision will be the potential test programme on offer in any deal.
“This year, I did seven test days and that’s just not enough if you want to fight with the other guys,” said Ostberg, who drove a satellite Ford for his family’s Adapta team in 2012.
“I believe I am ready to win next season, but to do that I need to be well prepared and I need testing to be well prepared.”
Ostberg finished fourth in the 2012 WRC standings despite only contesting 11 out of 13 rounds. He picked up his maiden WRC win in Portugal when Mikko Hirvonen was disqualified from first place for a technical infringement.
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