Mattias Ekström Celebrated His Latest Podium Finish of the FIA WRX Championship
Hell is not that hellish
Mattias Ekström celebrated his latest podium finish of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship. In front of an enthusiastic crowd at Hell in Norway, the Swede crossed the line in third and secured not only his next trophy, but also some very valuable points for the World Championship. Ekström is still leading the drivers’ standings with five points, ahead of reigning champion Petter Solberg. "At the end of a hard weekend, we got a small trophy and we are very happy with it," says Ekström. Thanks to a solid team effort, Ekström and teammate Toomas "Topi" Heikkinen also defended the lead of EKS in the teams’ standings.
"We were definitely not the fastest at Hell," says Ekström. "But we learned to fight and I take 20 hard-earned points for the championship with me, the same amount as Petter Solberg and Sébastien Loeb. That’s the most important fact for us. Now we will attend our home event in Höljes as overall leaders in both championships and I want to make it three in a row there." In 2014 and 2015, Ekström took victory on home soil.
Topi Heikkinen wasn’t the happiest man in Hell. The Finn made it to the semi-final for the fourth time this year, but missed a spot in the last race of the event. "It was a hard weekend, not perfect in many ways," says Heikkinen. "Because of bad starting positions in my qualifying runs, I was always fighting against opponents and the dust. But, I don’t want to waste time by complaining about that. I feel more comfortable in my Audi S1 EKS RX quattro with every run and I know that we will be fast at the ‘Magic Weekend’ in Sweden." Round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place in Höljes from the 1st–3rd of July.