Mattias Ekström will return to the World Rallycross Championship for this weekend’s double-header event in Latvia, marking his first starts in the series since 2020’s impromptu season finale in Barcelona.
Joining the field late on as a replacement for Jānis Baumanis, Ekström ran every event during last year’s campaign, winning twice – including in Riga where he’ll make his return – and running eventual champion Johan Kristoffersson close to the title.
The 2016 world champion will drive for Münnich Motorsport in Latvia, a team that’s been a mainstay in the premier level of European and World Rallycross for a number of years.
“I’m very excited to go to Riga with Münnich Motorsport for several reasons,” said Ekström. “Firstly, I think the car has been performing really good lately and René proved it with a Euro RX win in France.
Photo: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
“Secondly, I really like the Riga track a lot, and the fact that it will be a double-header weekend means there will be a lot of driving.
“And most importantly, driving a World RX Supercar is the best preparation possible for the racing activities that I do. With 600 horsepower and nearly 1000Nm [of torque] these are the fastest cars to drive and to keep myself hot and race ready for the season’s finale of Pure ETCR and upcoming Extreme E races [that’s ideal].
“I will do everything I can in Riga to get the trophy for the Münnich Motorsport team, because they have been fighting for a long time and really deserve it. We have two chances this weekend to achieve this goal.”
This season Münnich Motorsport has run Seat Ibizas for Ekström’s old DTM rival Timo Scheider, Mandie August and team boss René Münnich in World RX, with August and Münnich contesting the Barcelona season opener before shifting their focus to European RX1.
This weekend will be the first time Ekström will drive something other than an Audi S1 in World RX.
Hansen Motorsport drivers have dominated the season thus far with Kevin Hansen winning the opening round and Timmy Hansen winning the next two in Sweden and France to lead the drivers’ standings.
