Audi driver Ekström on podium after pouring rain

FIA World Rallycross Champion Mattias Ekström finishes third in Lohéac
Audi DTM driver Nico Müller celebrates impressive rallycross debut

Mattias Ekström (Audi S1 EKS RX quattro #1)

Mattias Ekström is back on the road to success in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. At the ninth round in Lohéac, the reigning World Champion finished third – the first podium result since his victory in Hockenheim last May. In front of 75,000 spectators, the Swede was only beaten in the final by his countryman Johan Kristoffersson and the French local matador Sébastien Loeb. In the overall standings, Ekström is third behind Kristoffersson and his team mate Petter Solberg – also like EKS in the team classification.

Following heavy rain, the final race in Brittany became a mud festival featuring many overtaking moves. “Saturday sun and Sunday rather more swimming and sliding, a varied weekend,” confirmed Ekström. “I’m actually quite satisfied with my third place, but I’m a little annoyed because we weren’t so far from the front. In the dry and in the rain we were just missing a tiny bit, but we can certainly build on the performance.”

In Lohéac, Ekström’s team mates Reinis Nitišs and Toomas Heikkinen once again made the semi-final races for the twelve fastest drivers, but drew the short straw at this stage. “After contact with Andreas Bakkerud my wipers stopped working, from there on I was running blind,” summarized Nitišs and added: “I’m disappointed with the result because it doesn’t show our real performance.” Heikkinen missed the final after a collision with Ken Block. “I initially had problems with the pace, but at least made the semi-final, but after skating through the gravel bed that was it.”

Audi DTM driver Nico Müller celebrated an impressive debut. In the fourth Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, the Swiss set fast laps from the very beginning on his rallycross premiere. Unfortunately he missed the semi-final after finishing 17th overall due to two collisions that were not of his making. “Even though the result is not what I’d hoped for, the weekend was great fun and I’d love to come back,” summarized the Swiss. After the weekend in France a long journey is on the schedule for Audi and EKS. The team must travel around 2,600 kilometers to the next round in Riga. The tenth of twelve World Championship rounds is held in the Latvian capital on September 16–17.