FORD

M.E.

• A native of Sweden, Mattias Ekstrom has forged his passion for motorsports with all manner of vehicles, taking advantage of his country's wide open spaces. This virtuoso all-rounder has excelled in various disciplines: two DTM titles, a Rallycross World Championship, three Race of Champions victories and his first Pure ETCR series title.
• An Audi man through and through, the Swede has spent his entire career with the legendary German marque. Before sitting in the seat of the RS Q e-tron in rally-raid, the 43-year-old had a taste of the Dakar in 2021 when he entered a Yamaha T3. While he didn't manage to finish the race, the experience helped him appreciate the difficulties involved.
• On Audi's Dakar debut a year later, the Swede turned in the team's best performance with a top-10 finish (9th). Two more successful adventures followed. He is the only Audi driver to have completed all of their Dakar rallies, with two stage victories along the way.
• Determinedly, He admits that doing and winning the Dakar is his most significant career challenge. Undoubtedly, that's why he's continuing with Ford M-Sport. With little seat time in the new Raptor, the task will be much more complicated for the Swede, who will have his regular co-driver Emil Bergkvist to his right.