All-in-all except for the incident on Friday morning, my Qatar M-Sport WRT-run Fiesta RS WRC car was spot on. We did change the set-up a bit on Sunday morning, but after that, it was again running perfectly.
Rally Sweden is always a great event and this year was no different. The snow was there, it wasn't too cold and there were no delays! And I really enjoyed driving one day in Norway too. It's always nice to drive at 'home'.
The atmosphere was amazing as well – as it always is. The people are so enthusiastic and all of them cheer for every single driver. It is also quite special for me to see all the Norwegian flags out on the stages. I just love driving on snow and while it would be great to have another snow event on the WRC calendar, I wouldn't want to replace any of the events that are currently there.
The result in Sweden moved me up to third in the Drivers' Championship and with
Sebastien Loeb only doing four rounds in 2013, I am now effectively the closest rival to Sebastien Ogier. That's nice and I'm happy to be third, but it's only two events. It is still impossible to predict anything regarding the rest of the year, although it does look like Ogier is going to be difficult to beat. However, I will be there and I will keep pushing, starting at the next event, Rally Mexico.
Having done tarmac, ice and snow, I am really looking forward to getting onto gravel and I like the Leon-based event. There is an amazing buzz around the rally and the atmosphere on the stages is incredible. And of course the nice temperature is a bonus too! I've done well on my previous visits to Mexico, finishing fourth last year and fifth in 2011, so this time I'd like to get on the podium - and the top step would be my preference.
That's all for now...
Mads Ostberg
To keep tabs on the Qatar M-Sport
World Rally Team's progress in 2013, simply follow this link:
www.qatarmsportwrt.com