Mattias Ekström in Marklund Motorsport rallycross Polo R for X Games Munich
Rallycross team Marklund Motorsport has signed 34 year-old Swedish DTM driver Mattias Ekström for the second 600bhp Polo R Supercar seat at ESPN X Games Munich, and the sixth round of the 2013 FIA RallycrossRX Championship in Höljes, Sweden. The three-times Race of Champions winner will join 20 year-old Anton Marklund, currently fifth in the 2013 RallycrossRX drivers’ championship, who has been getting Ekström up to speed with the car during testing sessions this week in Estering, Germany.
‘It’s an extreme car with incredible power considering it’s so small. I have never driven a car quite like this before. It’s enjoyable but a big challenge, which I like, but I have to learn the driving style quickly and find a set-up that suits me in a very short time as the competition is very hard and very aggressive. I’m really looking forward to doing these events as my father was a rallycross driver,’ said Ekström during the Estering testing sessions. Ekström has enjoyed a successful motorsport career from his debut in the Swedish Touring Car Championship in 1997. He won the series in 1999, and has since been driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), winning the famed series twice.
The X Games Munich are in Munich, Germany on 29-30 June, and the sixth round of the FIA RallycrossRX Championship takes place in Höljes, Sweden on 6-7 July.
[Images: Getty Images/Martin Rose]