M-Sport is facing the Rally of Wales GB with special illusion. Not all the days they compete at home and less when the end of an era is approaching. With the new generation of World Rally Cars in the focus in the media and knocking on the door for his entry into the WRC in 2017, the event contested in around Deeside supone a special goodbye to the current Ford Fiesta RS WRC. It may not be the only farewell if finally Mads Ostberg decides to leave the team, but for the time being the pilot in Norwegian and Eric Camilli will defend the interests of M-Sport at home.
The first participation of Mads Ostberg in the Rally of Great Britain dates back to 2006. By that time I had hardly played two rallies in the World championship at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRC. From that moment on, the pilot Norwegian has not been lost nor once this appointment, being second in 2011 and third in 2014: “We have learned a lot in the last two rallies on asphalt, but I have to admit that it is great to be back in the gravel and in addition, on one of my favorite events of the calendar. There is something special in the Rally of Wales, although it will be difficult to be on your podium“.
Mads Ostberg acknowledges that: “I have Always enjoyed their stages and I have been competitive in this rally. I’ve been on the podium on two occasions and the aim this time is to fight for the top positions again. The stages are really fantastic, even similar to sections found in Norway, so I can say that I feel at home in the Country of Wales. The key is to feel comfortable in spite of the difficult conditions that always accompany this rally. The event this year is early and we could see a rally seco“.
Eric Camilli has an experience much shorter in the Rally of Wales, who has only competed on one occasion in the forests of british and has done so at the controls of a Ford Fiesta R5. However, its performance was quite positive after the end of twelfth: “The Rally of Wales is a very special event for me and this year, still more for being the rally of house for the team. They have been a great support this season and it would mean a lot to me to be able to compensate them with a good result. I’ve Only competed once, in Wales, in WRC2, but we were competitive from the beginning and I ended up near the victory”.
“This year will be totally different, but I’m looking forward to it now the rally” says Eric Camilli adds below: “The stages are very fast and fluid and even in the wet levels of grip are very high. We will discover how it behaves, a World Rally Car here. The most important thing for us is to be able to finish the rally, but if the good feelings are there, it will be possible and also nice to push to the limit and see how far we can go”.
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