World Rallycross Champion · Two-Time DTM Champion

Mattias Ekström

Mattias Ekström won the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2016 with a team he founded and named after himself, having already taken two DTM titles for Audi. He has since finished third on the Dakar Rally twice.

Born
14 July 1978 · Falun, Sweden
World RX Career
2014–2021 · 60 starts
DTM Career
2001–2018 · Abt Sportsline, Audi
Titles
World RX 2016 · DTM 2004, 2007 · STCC 1999
Race of Champions
4 wins · 2006, 2007, 2009, 2023
Dakar Rally
Third overall in 2025 and 2026
Shop the Collection Watch highlights
World Rallycross Champion
2016 · EKS RX
1
World RX Title
12
World RX Event Wins
2
DTM Titles
4
Race of Champions Wins

Who Is Mattias Ekström?

Mattias Ekström is a Swedish racing driver who won the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2016 with EKS RX, the team he founded. He was DTM champion for Audi in 2004 and 2007, Swedish Touring Car champion in 1999, and has won the Race of Champions four times. He finished third on the Dakar Rally in both 2025 and 2026.

World RX Record
12 wins, 27 podiums from 60 starts
Titles
World RX 2016 · DTM 2004, 2007 · STCC 1999
Own Team
EKS RX, founded 2014
Dakar Rally
Third overall, 2025 and 2026

By KozmozInspire Editorial Published Updated 9 sources

Rider Profile

Who Is Mattias Ekström?

Mattias Ekström is the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Champion and a two-time DTM champion. He is Swedish, born in Falun in 1978, and has spent almost his entire career with Audi: the Swedish touring car title in 1999, the DTM in 2004 and 2007, and the world rallycross title in 2016 in a car run by his own team.

The DTM was his day job for eighteen seasons. He joined the Abt operation in 2001 for the revived championship and stayed until 2018, taking two titles and finishing runner-up four times, in 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2017.

Rallycross began as a sideline and became a business. He entered the Swedish round of the European championship in 2013, finished second, and founded EKS RX to contest the first World Rallycross season the following year. He won at Höljes in the team’s debut year and the world title two years after that.

His third career is in the desert. He first started the Dakar Rally in 2021, drove the Audi RS Q e-tron to ninth in 2022, and moved to M-Sport Ford for 2025, finishing third overall in the Ford Raptor T1+ and third again in 2026. He has also won the Race of Champions four times.

The Career

Three Chapters That Defined Mattias Ekström

Chapter 01

Eighteen Seasons in the DTM

Ekström arrived in the DTM in 2001, the year the championship was rebuilt, and left it in 2018. All of it was spent with the Abt team and Audi. He won the title in 2004 from the Mercedes pair of Gary Paffett and Christijan Albers, and again in 2007. Four more seasons ended with him second in the standings: 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2017. When he finally announced he was leaving, in January 2018, it was to run his rallycross team full time.

Mattias Ekström’s dark blue Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM on track at the Hockenheimring in October 2014 Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM, Hockenheimring, 2014 Photo: Mattias Ekström, Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM, Hockenheimring (2014) by Stefan Brending (2eight) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized) · licence
Chapter 02

A Team With His Own Initials

He drove one rallycross event in 2013, the European round at Höljes, and finished second. That was enough: he founded EKS RX, entered two Audi S1 Supercars for the Norwegian round of the first World Rallycross season in 2014, and won at Höljes later the same year. In 2016 he took four wins from twelve rounds and clinched the drivers’ championship at the German round with one event still to run, 272 points to Johan Kristoffersson’s 240. EKS won the teams’ championship at the finale in Argentina.

Ekström’s number 10 EKS Audi S1 quattro rallycross Supercar, white with Red Bull graphics and dirt down its flanks, turning into the Lydden Hill hairpin in 2015 EKS Audi S1 quattro Supercar, Lydden Hill, 2015 Photo: Mattias Ekström, EKS Audi S1 quattro Supercar, Lydden Hill (2015) by Mark Seymour from UK / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized) · licence
Chapter 03

Third Act in the Desert

Ekström started his first Dakar Rally in 2021 in a Yamaha side-by-side and did not finish it. He was recruited as an Audi works driver alongside Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel, took ninth overall in the RS Q e-tron in 2022, and moved to M-Sport Ford for 2025. With Emil Bergkvist navigating he finished third overall that year, then third again in 2026, winning four stages including the last one.

The blue and red Ford Raptor T1+ rally-raid car Mattias Ekström drives for M-Sport Ford, parked on paving with palm trees behind Ford Raptor T1+, M-Sport Ford, 2025 Photo: Ekström’s Ford Raptor T1+, M-Sport Ford (2025) by Viesturskundzins / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized) · licence
Career Timeline

Career Timeline

Karting

Starts in Swedish karting as a teenager and moves into the Renault 5 Turbo Cup the following year.

Touring car debut

Finishes runner-up in the Swedish Touring Car Championship in his first season, in a Volvo 850.

Swedish champion

Takes the STCC title in an Audi A4 quattro, beginning a long association with the marque.

DTM

Joins the Abt team for the revived Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and finishes eighth in an Audi TT.

DTM champion

Wins the championship ahead of Gary Paffett and Christijan Albers.

Second DTM title

Champion again, and Champion of Champions at the Race of Champions, beating Michael Schumacher.

NASCAR

Becomes the first Scandinavian to start a NASCAR Cup Series race, standing in for Brian Vickers at Sonoma.

Two debuts

Second at Höljes on his rallycross debut, and tenth at the Bathurst 1000 on a wildcard entry.

EKS RX

Founds his own rallycross team, debuting at Hell in Norway, and wins at Höljes later that season.

World champion

Clinches the World Rallycross title with a round to spare; EKS wins the teams’ championship.

Two exits

Leaves the DTM for rallycross, then announces his World RX retirement at the Cape Town finale.

Dakar and ETCR

Starts his first Dakar Rally and wins the inaugural Pure ETCR title with Cupra.

Dakar podium

Third overall for the second year running, with four stage wins including the closing stage.

By the Numbers

Rallycross Season Record

Mattias Ekström season-by-season record: team, races, wins, podiums, points and final standing.
SeasonTeam Races Wins Podiums Points Pos.
2014 EKS RX 3 1 2 55 11
2015 EKS RX 11 1 3 201 6
2016 EKS RX 12 4 6 272 1
2017 EKS RX 11 4 7 255 2
2018 EKS Audi Sport 12 0 4 248 2
2019 EKS Audi Sport 1 0 0 8 22
2020 Sweden KYB Team JC 8 2 5 192 2
2021 Münnich Motorsport 2 0 0 37 10

World RX career totals: 60 starts, 12 wins, 27 podiums, one title and three runner-up finishes. The 2019 and 2021 rows are single-weekend wildcard entries; 2020 was a season of four double-header events. His three FIA European Rallycross starts are not included. DTM totals are deliberately absent: en.wikipedia gives 217 starts, 25 wins and 83 podiums through 2018 while de.wikipedia gives 188, 22 and 75 through 2017, and the two do not reconcile; both agree on 20 poles and on the 2004 and 2007 titles. Figures verified 2026-09-08.

Frequently Asked

Mattias Ekström: Frequently Asked Questions

What has Mattias Ekström won?

The 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the DTM in 2004 and 2007, the Swedish Touring Car Championship in 1999 and the inaugural Pure ETCR title in 2021. He has also won the Race of Champions four times.

How did Mattias Ekström win the 2016 World Rallycross title?

With a round to spare. He took four wins from twelve rounds and clinched the drivers’ championship at the German round, finishing on 272 points to Johan Kristoffersson’s 240. His own team, EKS, won the teams’ championship at the finale in Argentina.

What is EKS RX?

The rallycross team Ekström founded in 2014 and named after his own initials. It debuted at the Norwegian round of the first World RX season with two Audi S1 Supercars, and became EKS Audi Sport in 2018 when Audi expanded its backing.

What is Mattias Ekström’s World Rallycross record?

Twelve event wins and 27 podiums from 60 starts between 2014 and 2021, with one title and three runner-up finishes in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Did Mattias Ekström race in the DTM?

Yes, from 2001 to 2018, all of it with the Abt team and Audi. He won the championship in 2004 and 2007 and finished second in the standings in 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2017.

How has Mattias Ekström done on the Dakar Rally?

He first entered in 2021, finished ninth for Audi in 2022, and took third overall in both 2025 and 2026 in the Ford Raptor T1+ for M-Sport, with Emil Bergkvist navigating.

Is Mattias Ekström related to Bengt Ekström?

Bengt Ekström, a rallycross competitor through the 1980s and 1990s, was his father. Ekström’s own move into the discipline in 2013 followed his father’s.

Where is Mattias Ekström from?

He was born in Falun, in central Sweden, and grew up in Avesta.

Shop His Gear

Mattias Ekström Collection

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References

Sources & Further Reading

Every statistic on this page is drawn from the following records.

  1. Mattias Ekström · Wikipedia
  2. Mattias Ekström (German edition) · Wikipedia
  3. Mattias Ekström (Swedish edition) · Wikipedia
  4. 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship · Wikipedia
  5. 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship · Wikipedia
  6. EKS RX · Wikipedia
  7. Biography Mattias Ekström · Audi
  8. Ford Racing Delivers Double Podium at the 2026 Dakar Rally · Ford Racing
  9. Mattias Ekström (Q506045) · Wikidata

How this page is made

Rider profiles are compiled from official series records and cross-checked against independent statistical databases before publication.

Commercial disclosure. This page links to merchandise sold by KozmozInspire. Products are fan-made tributes inspired by motorsport history and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed from the rider, their estate, or any team.

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