World RX #GOAT Top Ten Countdown: Mattias Ekström (3rd)

3rd: Mattias Ekström

World RX Titles: 1
World RX Wins: 12
World RX Podiums: 27
Best Championship Finish: 1st (2016)

Twice a DTM touring car title-winner before turning his hand to rallycross, Mattias Ekström is unquestionably one of the most versatile drivers in the sport, with three Race of Champions trophies to his credit – two of them after defeating multiple Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher – as well as appearances in the FIA World Rally Championship, Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000 and North America’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The Swede grew up with rallycross and spent a large part of his youth in paddocks watching his father Bengt race in the European Championship, going on to debut in the dual-surface discipline himself in 2013 as he finished second in the Swedish round of Euro RX.

He switched his focus to the World Championship in 2014 with the creation of his own EKS RX team. Immediately competitive, Ekström triumphed for the first time on home soil at Höljes before a more comprehensive campaign at the highest level in 2015 yielded another victory and two further rostrum finishes.

Four wins the next year saw the Falun native sweep to the coveted Drivers’ crown, which he backed up with the runner-up spoils in 2017, 2018 and 2020, having moved to KYB Team JC for the latter of those seasons following Audi’s withdrawal as an official manufacturer.

In 2021, Ekström joined ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport for a one-off outing in Rīga, proving that he had lost none of his speed or flair by taking the fight to four-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson and only narrowly missing out on the podium on the second day of the double-header event.