Mads Østberg finished second after a tough weekend in the final round of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB. It is also his second podium finish in the WRC this season.

With career best result on gravel, Mads Østberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson finished in a strong second place behind Ford colleague Jari-Matti Latvala. With the fastest time at the rallies pre-event Shakedown, Østberg proved that he could claim high up on the leaderboard.?
- It was good fun, and I'm so happy now. There has been a good rally for us, and we did right when we finished third on Friday. After Petter [Solberg] had to retire, we focused on driving safely and to take no risk, and I feel we have done a very good job. I am very pleased with the rally, and to finish on podium together with Henning [Solberg] and Jari-Matti [Latvala] is great, said a glad Mads Østberg Sunday afternoon.

For the first time in history there are two Norwegians on the podium in a WRC event, after Østberg and Solberg finished second and third in the season-closing event. Even with reduced engine power of Østberg's Ford Fiesta RS WRC during today's six stages after engine problems yesterday, the 24-year-old ends 3 minutes and 42.9 seconds ahead of Latvala.?? Sebastien Loeb, who had already secured his eighth world crown, was in a close fight for victory when he had to retire after an accident on a road section with a car driving in the wrong way.

- Seb was really unlucky, and he had no chance to do a thing. He moved to the side of the road, and the car he met went on the wrong side. Anything can happen in our sport, but it's even worse when it happens outside of the stages, said Østberg.

Wales Rally GB started Thursday afternoon in the city of Llandudno in northern Wales. 23 stages totalling 358.59 km spread over four days are completed, and the duo finished on the podium in Cardiff Sunday afternoon.

Østberg’s previous best result in a WRC event was in February, when he finished on the podium for his first time and secured second place in Rally Sweden. The Norwegian finished sixth at the 2011 FIA Drivers' Championship Standings, and are pleased with the season.

- It is the best WRC season I have ever had, and more than I dared to hope for before we started the 2011 season. There is clearly a major step in the right direction, and it's a fantastic way to end the season in same way as we started, said Mads Østberg.