AUDI

 Put Mattias Ekstrom in a car whatever the terrain, and there’s a pretty good chance that he’ll be competitive. Born in Sweden, the passion for motorsports came rapidly on all sorts of vehicles in the vast open spaces of his native land. Glory came later. Two DTM titles, a World Rallycross championship, 3-time winner of the Race of Champions and more recently the first ever Pure ETCR series champion. The choice of having Ekstrom in the Dakar project was a natural one. He is indeed an Audi “child” having done all his career with the legendary German brand. But before sitting behind the wheel of the RS Q e-tron, the 43-year-old had a first taste of the Dakar in 2021 when he took part in the rally in a Yamaha T3. Although tough, it would be an eye-opening experience. Despite failing to finish, he at least knew what he was up for. Ekstrom, the eternal enthusiast made the historic debut of his team even sweeter by capturing stage 8 just five days after his team mate Carlos Sainz opened the way. The Swede then went on to finish best placed of the Audi drivers by making it just into the Top ten of his second Dakar (9th). In a redesigned and lighter RS Q e-Tron, Ekstrom will again make the best of the tips of his prestigious team mates Sainz and Peterhansel and can hope to surprise by already going for overall victory with his usual partner Emil Bergkvist.