Mads Ostberg was desperate to set a new Colin’s Crest record but he painfully missed out by the narrowest of margins at Rally Sweden.
Breaking the Colin’s Crest record at Rally Sweden is a nice moment, but Mads Ostberg was determined to set a new best jump distance in his new 2017-spec Ford Fiesta WRC.
On his first pass through the stage for SS11 he put in a 42-metre jump, a good attempt but not quite enough to beat the record.
That record of 45 metres was set by Eyvind Brynildsen in his Ford Fiesta R5 last year.
Ostberg then tried again on stage 14 and bagged the Colin’s Crest Award this year for a brilliant 44-metre jump, the best of 2017.
However, it was just one metre short of smashing the all-time record set in 2016. He seemed pretty disappointed when interviewed after his first try and was frustrated after attempt number two.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I lost the line on the corner before the crest, got on the snow and lost speed. I was thinking about the jump all the way through the stage so I was really upset. Of course, I wanted the record – it was the most important thing in the world! I couldn’t stand up to the pressure, apparently…”
With the development of these new-spec cars set to ramp up over the years, maybe next year will be his time to break the ultimate Colin’s Crest record.
Jari-Matti Latvala secured victory in the second rally since Toyota’s return to the WRC, beating Ott Tanak.