#5 Mattias Ekström

• BORN: 14 July 1978
• NATIONALITY: Sweden
• HOME TOWN: Falun, Sweden
• INTERESTS: Family life, Tennis and Food

2016 World RX Champion and two-time DTM title winner Mattias Ekstrom grew up with rallycross and spent a large part of his youth in RX paddocks watching his dad Bengt, who competed in the European Championship.

A stalwart of the Audi fold, the Swedish driver won the 2004 and 2007 DTM touring car titles for the manufacturer before turning his attention to World RX in 2014 with the creation of his own EKS RX team. 

Immediately competitive at the wheel of an Audi S1, Ekstrom would claim a win on home soil at the Sweden RX round in 2014 ahead of his first full-time campaign in 2015, one that yielded another success in his native homeland.

Four wins (Germany, Belgium, Britain, Spain) the following year would see Ekstrom sweep to the 2016 drivers’ title, with Finnish team-mate Topi Heikkinen contributing to his EKS outfit wrapping up the teams’ championship too. 

Rewarded with factory backing from Audi Sport for his title defence in 2017, Ekstrom scored four more wins in the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro last season en route to the runners-up spot behind Johan Kristoffersson. Having previously dovetailed his rallycross efforts with his DTM commitments – where he was a runner-up as recently as last year -, Ekstrom will now focus solely on his driver-owner World RX role in 2018 as he looks to reclaim both trophies.