M-Sport World Rally Team are ready to tackle the first in the string of tarmac WRC events at Rallye Deutschland 2016 in the Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Experience can be key at Rallye Deutschland due to its three very different stage characteristics. Norway’s Mads Østberg, who doesn’t prefer tarmac has competed at this rally 14 times, with his best result coming in 2012 in fourth place, already has the knowledge of competing previously in Germany.
His team-mate Éric Camilli is looking forward to the string of tarmac WRC rallies where he made his début in the Junior WRC category in 2014.
The Frenchman led the Junior WRC category ahead of its more experienced counterparts, which he then followed up with a second place in the WRC2 category in 2015. Camilli will be looking to impress once again on the German tarmac.
Østberg said “I naturally feel more at home on gravel, but I enjoy asphalt rallies and Rallye Deutschland is one of my favourites. The tricky conditions make it a really challenging event, and I enjoy that – the muddier and trickier the better!
“I secured my best result here with the Fiesta in 2012 and, as I remember, the car handles really well on Tarmac. We have one and a half day’s testing to perfect the set-ups and I feel that we are well-prepared.
“We’re ready for the fight, and ready to give it our all as always.”
Credit: McKlein/M-Sport World Rally Team
Camilli added “This is the event that I have been looking forward to all year. It won’t be easy, but I am feeling more confident ahead of this one. I feel at home on asphalt, and I know this rally quite well having competed here twice before.
“It is still important for us to gain experience but if we feel comfortable we’ll push hard. I hope we can build on the asphalt pace I showed at the very start of the season – that is the target.”
