World Rallycross final

Although out of the running to retain his FIA Rallycross Championship crown again in 2017, Mattias Ekström left nothing in reserve in the final round of this year’s competition in Cape Town.

Coming into the final round – the first to be held in South Africa – Ekström was looking at closing out the season in third place on the drivers’ standing, having missed RX events during the season due to clashes with his DTM driving duties.

But, throwing everything at the challenge in front of packed stands in Cape Town, the Swede managed to clinch yet another podium, finishing in third, which took him past Petter Solberg in the season standings.

“That was a tremendous weekend,” said Ekström at the end of the weekend. “Obviously we always want to win, but unfortunately we weren’t fast enough in the final. Second place in the overall standings is good … I’ll celebrate this success with the team and look forward to the winter break after the long season,” he said.

In addition, his EKS team wrapped up the 2017 season in third, rounding out what has been another hugely successful season ‘in the dirt’ for Audi and EKS.

On 11 of the 12 race weekends at least one driver in an Audi S1 EKS RX quattro made the final for the fastest six drivers, while World Championship runner-up Ekström won 23 of his 75 races. With 10 race wins to his name, the Swede, along with Petter Solberg, is the most successful driver in rallycross history.