The EKSRX Quartet arrive at the 2017 World RX of Latvia with clear goals as to what they want to achieve in the tenth round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
With the Swedish Squad running four cars again as Nico Muller makes his second World RX appearance, each driver has made it very clear what they want to achieve at the Riga circuit this weekend. For Team Principal Mattias Ekstrom, who lies third in the Drivers Championship, its a fourth win of the season he’s after.
“The track is fantastic and was good to drive even in rain. We tested in Riga earlier this year and will give our all to reduce our gap to the competition,” says Ekström.
“France was a step in the right direction. In Qualifying, I’m shooting for the top spot and want to start from pole position in the semi-finals.”
For Reinis Nitiss, this is his home round of the World RX season and he is looking for a good performance in the Audi S1 Quattro front of the fans that will require “Maximum Motivation” from the Latvian. Team-mate Topi Heikkinen is looking to go better than his ninth place finish from the 2016 event as he aims for a place in the Supercar Final and feel that the circuit meets his driving style.
“The track suits me and I know that I’ve got what it takes to finish in the top six,” explains the Finn.
Finally there is Nico Muller, who did well on his World RX debut in France to go ninth fastest in Q2 before ending the event in seventeenth place. However the DTM driver has set out his aim to reach the Semi-Finals as he looks to gather more experience in the FIA World Rallycross Championship after losing his bet to Ekstrom.
With the Grid Draw for Q1 already having taken place, Muller finds himself on pole position for the first race along with team-mates Nitiss and Heikkinen whilst Ekstrom lines up in fourth place in race two.