The Norwegian 23-year-old Mads Østberg is now at sixth place overall after a challenging first day in Rally Argentina. The frontrunners in Rally Argentina have set a very high speed, and already after the first stage Friday morning, Østberg believes he will not be able to follow the pace of the guys in front.

- Today has been the toughest day I've ever had in a rally before, really rough, it's indescribable
to describe how rough the stages was - it's unbelievable, says debutant Østberg.

In front of Mads on fifth place is the former World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb with a lead of 1 minute and 24 seconds. Mads is 32.2 seconds ahead of his teammate in M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team Matthew Wilson, who follows him on seventh place.

- I don't feel a pressure from the frontrunners, but we need to try to get a bigger gap to the guys behind.

The goal for the duo Østberg / Andersson is to increase the pace a bit for tomorrow's stages, even if they will drive with a large of safety margin.

- Overall I'm very pleased with the day, and we are in the possession that was our goal before the rally. It is not the road surface I'm used to, and we have some challenges with the setup on the car. I'm not driving 100% either - so I have to improve myself for tomorrow, said Mads.

An issue that has followed Mads through the last few rallies is to get the preload on the rear diff to keep the correct pressure.

- It's something we are struggling with, but the team will look after it tonight at the service.

Today's famous El Condor stage was passed twice, and on the last part of the 37.32km-long stage, there were two miles on tarmac.

- It was really fun the first time through. The first section on asphalt was twisty and cool to drive, while the last part was a little too fast and not so funny but overall the stage was a positive experience and I enjoyed it said Mads.

Mads and co driver Jonas Andersson is determined to get through the Rally of Argentina and will not take any chances and not push up to the maximum.

- I am looking forward to tomorrow's stages - it's a different type of roads so there will be some new challenges for us, says a satisfied Mads after his debut in Argentina.

Mads Østberg is now on sixth place overall, 2 minutes and 55 seconds behind leader Jari-Matti Latvala.

You can follow Mads Østberg during Rally Argentina on Twitter and Facebook.
The last stage - the Power Stage will be sent live on television on Sunday.

Top ten overall after day 1:
1. J. LATVALA M 0.00.0
2. P. SOLBERG  +18.2
3. S. OGIER +28.8
4. M. HIRVONEN +43.5
5. S. LOEB 1:30.3
6. M. ØSTBERG +2:55.2
7. M. WILSON +3:27.4
8. F. VILLAGRA +3:40.9
9. K. BLOCK +6:04.8
10. H. PADDON +11:49.6