Mattias Ekström is a man of multiple motorsport disciplines, having competed in DTM, GT3s, rally raid, NASCAR and many others, which includes rallycross, but the mixed surface bug keeps biting the Swede from time to time, so he will make a return in RallyX Nordic.
More specifically, he will be in quite familiar terrain and scenario despite this being a rare appearance for him in the Nordic competition, as he will visit Höljes again onboard an Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro from his own team, meaning that he will be in person for the first time that EKS and JC Raceteknik will face off themselves after the break in their motorsport operations after a year together. This won’t be his first time partnering Enzo Ide, as both served Joel Christoffersson in the Belgian’s rallycross debut at the 2019 Spa RX.
His explanation plays down any chances of a full time return, as his idea is to race in rallycross at least once in a year, and he was so excited in doing so after his FIA ETCR win at Pau that a look at the lineup did the rest to convince him, as a number of his rivals from the World RX will be present, including rival-turned-teammate Johan Kristoffersson, who won his fourth World RX title onboard an EKS JC Audi S1 last year.
Proof of Ekström’s regular commitment to rallycross was that he joined JC Raceteknik for the 2020 World RX as a last hour full time driver while he was expected to only race in a few rounds, narrowly losing the title to Kristoffersson at the time, and in 2021 he made a shocking switch to AllInkl.com Münnich Motorsport to partner with his former DTM teammate Timo Scheider at Riga RX, and his fourth place in the second round of the Latvian double header demonstrated that the 2016 World RX doesn’t come to make numbers.
The idea is to follow what he did last, so anything past the 14-15 May weekend is highly unlikely to happen, with him focusing on his commitments with Audi and Cupra, as well leading the support to EKS clients in RallyX Nordic and Nitro Rallycross.
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.