Ostberg beats Mikkelsen on the Rally Sørland.

Subaru privateer Mads Ostberg will go to the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the next round in the WRC, on a high, having taken the victory on the Rally Sørland last weekend, the fourth round in the 2008 Norwegian Rally Championship.

Ostberg, who finished ninth overall on the Uddeholm Swedish Rally back in February, led the event in the south of Norway from the second stage on Friday night and never looked back.

He eventually beat fellow countryman and rising star Andreas Mikkelsen by more than a minute, to win the first gravel round of the year in the NRC.

Mikkelsen meanwhile, who struggled with his pace-notes, was not comfortable throughout the event in his Ford Focus WRC, but nevertheless he still took the runners-up spot.

Andreas, who became the youngest ever points scorer in Sweden when he was fifth, is also going to take in the sixth round in the World Rally Championship.

Anders Grondal completed the podium in his Impreza, 40 seconds or so further back, while 2006 Junior World Rally champion, Patrik Sandell, came in fourth in a Skoda Fabia WRC followed by Martin Stenshorne and Sveinung Bieltvedt.

After his win, Ostberg and Mikkelsen are now equal first in the Norwegian Rally Championship standings, both with 101 points having taken two wins a piece, plus a second and a third. The NRC now resumes after the Acropolis Rally of Greece on June 7.