Mattias Ekstrom in RallycrossRX Sweden

Historically the Swedish round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship boasts the biggest entry of the championship. This season the RallycrossRX of Sweden (July 6 -7), has an entry list full of both quality and quantity. Arguably top of the Wildcard Supercar drivers is two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom who will contest the event at the wheel of a Marklund Motorsport VW Polo R Supercar.

The 34-year-old Swede tested the car yesterday and today at Buxtehude in Germany alongside team-mate Anton Marklund, who currently lies fifth in the RallycrossRX Championship in his debut season. Ekstrom will compete with Marklund in this weekend’s XGames event in Munich.

“Mattias is a great guy, and a really great driver,” says Marklund. “He has been so successful with his racing, and has driven a lot of cars, so it’s not hard for him to get used to the Polo. He even beat Sebastien Loeb at the Race of Champions, when they were both driving Citroen Xsara WRC’s (Loeb’s then current car). It’s good to have him in the car not only for us, but also the profile of rallycross. He is a very likeable person and we have a great relationship. Because he’s from Sweden too we can chat in Swedish which makes things lighter, and like me, he’s a very calm guy.”

An accomplished all rounder, Ekstrom has also tackled WRC events, placing tenth in the 2005 Swedish rally with Skoda and has won the Race of Champions three times, first beating Sebastien Loeb to win in 2006 and then overcoming Michael Schumacher in 2007 and 2009 to add further victories. Ekstrom was Swedish Touring Car Champion in 1999 and has been an Audi driver in the DTM since 2001, winning the championship in 2004 and 2007.

“When we had Carlos Sainz in the car earlier this year, he was very fast with a rally style of driving. Mattias obviously has a more racing style of driving and is super smooth. In testing we were very similar on lap times, it’s very close. He will be ready!” said Marklund.

Fielding a two car team for the event in its first season as a Supercar outfit, it’s easy to forget how far Marklund Motorsport have come since the end of 2012. “People forget that this is the first year of the Polo, the first year of us as a Supercar team and the first year of me as a Supercar driver. I’m proud that the car is so good when I have done all the development work on my own with no experience of these types of cars before this year. I’ve helped Mattias learn about the torque of the Polo, but I am learning so much from him. These experienced drivers have done so much, I can learn from all that,” said Marklund.

Ekstrom’s only previous experience of rallycross as a driver came in 2008 when he demonstrated an Audi Sport Quattro S1 at Holjes during the European Rallycross Championship event. Before that, however, he spent much of his childhood in the paddock as his father Bengt was s successful rallycross competitor in the 1980s and early 1990s.

As well as Ekstrom, Johan Kristoffersson and Pontus Tidemand will drive a pair of VW Scirocco Supercars entered by Kristoffersson Motorsport while there are OMSE Ford Fiestas for Patrik Sandell and Mikael Thiman in an entry list that appears set to include more than 30 Supercars.

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