Citroen's Mads Ostberg thinks hꦍe can be fast on Rally Italia Sardegna this week and the Norwegian has said he is hoping t🌳o 'mix it with the leaders'.

Ostberg had a difficult event in Argentina last mཧonth, crashing out in the opening stage on the Friday, before having to withdraw on the final day after getting a bad kick back through the steering on his right hand.

Despite not scoring there thꦦough, he remains upbeat and will be focused on trying to get his third podium of the season in Sardinia, an event he has considerable experience of. Indeed he has competed on it every time since it joined the WRC calendar in 2007, last year finishing eighth, while he was fourth in 2012 and fifth in 2011.

"I have done pretty well at this event over the years and I have some good memories of racing here," said Ostberg. "The route is very technical and the grip level varies on the different runs. It is particularly important to take good pace notes here. You ha🌠ve to be able to adapt your pace when conditions on the stages 🔴change."

During recent tests in Sardinia, Ostberg wa🌜s able to work on the set-up of his Citroen DS3 WR𝓡C and he was encouraged by what he found.

"We found solutions that should enable us to be even more competitive on this kind of surface," he revealed. "I think we ca💫n be fast in Sardinia and I have quite a lot of experience at the event. So I'm going to push a bit harder from the start to try to get among the frontrunners. Th💦e target, as always, is to finish on the podium but I'm hoping to mix it with the leaders."

Citroen deputy team principal Marek Nawarecki added: "To prepare as effectively as possible, we ran a test sesꦇsion on the island on roads that were very similar to those we'll face in the rally itself. By combining ou💛r experience and the feelings of Mads and Kris [Meeke - his team-mate], we were able to improve the set-up of the Citroen DS3 WRC.

"B🥂oth our drivers seem very happy with the handling and balance of their car. That's our aim: give them the o♛pportunity to express themselves on the stages."

"It [✤Sardinia] is a tough event, but that is true of every World Rally Championship round," he continued.

"We are looking [now] to harness the full potential of the car and the drivers and our obꦏjective is the same in Sardinia. The work done on developing the Citroen DS3 WRC enables us to meet the expectations of our dr🌃ivers. Mads has a lot of experience in Sardinia, whereas Kris is more familiar with this rally than the ones earlier in the season.

"These are strengths of which we must take advant🔯age," Nawarecki concluded.