“There are two hearts beating in my chest,” says Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “Obviously, it’s not easy to do without one of our best drivers in the DTM finale at Hockenheim of all events. But Mattias (Ekström) has the chance of winning the world championship title in rallycross in an Audi.” That is why Audi Sport has released him for the WorldRX round at the Estering, so supporting him in the race for the world championship title. His DTM cockpit at Hockenheim will be taken over by René Rast. On making his surprise DTM debut, the Audi factory driver left a strong impression. “I’m very excited to see how he’s going to fare with a little more time to prepare,” Gass adds.
With 21 victories and two championship titles under his belt, Mattias Ekström is the most successful Audi DTM driver in history. Three years ago, alongside his DTM commitment, he formed his own privateer rallycross team, EKS. In the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, he may now be about to clinch the first ever world championship title in his career. Before the last three rounds, the Swede is leading the World Rallycross Championship with a ten-point advantage.