World RX Lohéac 2017
Mattias Ekström (Audi S1 EKS RX quattro #1)

The ninth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship season is held this weekend in Lohéac. With 70,000 spectators looking on, Audi and EKS produced a creditable performance on the first day in Brittany. Rallycross World Champion Mattias Ekström holds fourth place in the overall standings after two of four qualifying races. “Lohéac is absolutely unique,” says Ekström, “Nowhere else do we have so many spectators and the first two races went without problems. Now we’ll tweak the set-up for a bit more pace and than we’ll attack at the maximum again on Sunday.” Reinis Nitišs and Toomas Heikkinen in eleventh and twelfth places are also hoping to make the semi-final for the twelve fastest drivers. Audi DTM driver Nico Müller made an impressive debut. In the fourth Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, the Swiss posted fast lap times immediately on his rallycross debut and finished third in second free practice ahead of established forces like World Champion Ekström. However, a collision in first qualifying dropped Müller far back. He answered this with victory in his second race and now will do everything possible to move up from his current 17th position overall into the top 12 in the remaining two races.