Mattias Ekström and EKS win World Rallycross Championship teams’ title

“I’m lost for words – and this is a rare occurrence,” said Ekström at the end of a dramatic weekend in Argentina. “This title means a huge amount to the team and me. It shows that we all did an excellent job, and not just this year. When we started EKS three years ago, there was nothing at all. Now we are driver and team World Champions and I’ll remember a great many moments forever.”

Led by Ekström and his teammate Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen, the team celebrated the title exuberantly in Rosario. “We extracted the maximum and also beat the Peugeot and Ford factory teams,” said the Swede. “The 2017 World Rallycross Championship will certainly be even tougher. The competition never sleeps, but I love challenges and I’ll be happy to try and defend both titles.”

EKS started the season finale with a 17 point lead over Team Peugeot Hansen. Where a series of startling events unfolded: after torrential rain a heat had to be moved from Saturday to Sunday. Ekström and Heikkinen were, however, left unfazed by the weather and finished the heats in third and ninth. As a result, they scored enough points to beat the competition around nine-time Rally World Champion Sébastien Loeb and to celebrate the title before the final races. After a dramatic semi-final, Heikkinen took third in the final and celebrated his third podium this year. Ekström was fifth in the season’s closing event. In the overall standings, the lead was 35 points in the end. Ekström’s Audi DTM teammate Timo Scheider was fourth in the Seat Ibiza entered by Muennich Motorsport.