Autosportfoto

Eks to receive Audi Sport backing in World RX

Audi AG announced earlier today that the German manufacturer will support Mattias Ekstrom's EKS squad in the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.

Ekstrom - the reigning World RX Champion - will once again compete in all 12 rounds of the World Championship in his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro. While EKS already had access to Audi Sport suppliers and partners previously, the further technical development of the all-wheel driven Supercar will now take place with support from the motorsport department of Audi.

"We realise that it's going to be increasingly difficult for EKS to hold its own against the factory teams, so we chose to intensify our World RX commitment," explained Head of Audi Motorsport, Dieter Gass.

Ekstrom added: "When we took our first steps to build EKS, we dreamed about becoming World Champions and we did it - in three years. We also dreamed about getting support from Audi, to be able to stay on the top and compete for more championships but now we have got that too."

He continued: "We laid a lot of groundwork as a team in the first three years, gathered important experiences and set new standards with EKS. But it was also clear to us that we'd need support for the future in order to be able to continue on this level. The fact that EKS is now receiving factory backing by Audi makes me very happy - I'm convinced that rallycross has a great future."

The news about Audi follows hot on the heels of Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson's announcement last week that the new two-car team will include technical support from Volkswagen Motorsport in Germany.

The opening round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship will begin in Barcelona (1-2 April). The World Championship consists of 12 legs and concludes in Cape Town, South Africa.

Zdroj: fiaworldrallycross.com