One thing that was very clear during all of the sessions in the 2018 World RX of Canada was that the teams had used the mid-season break very wisely and the benefits were obvious from the start.
EKS Audi Sport used the official Test Days at the Riga Circuit in Latvia to work on improving the different aspects of the Audi S1 Quattro Supercar to close the gap on rivals PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and Team Peugeot Total. The results were soon visible with 2016 World RX Champion Mattias Ekstrom finishing the first day in second place overall.
However that changed on Sunday as Ekstrom fell back to fifth place overall at the end of Qualifying and managed to get through the Semi-Finals to get in the Supercar Final of round seven in the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Ekstrom was Loeb’s closest challenger on Saturday in Canada. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Whilst fourth place was his reward in the Final, the Swedish driver felt there was more to come from the developments.
“We had a really good base this weekend. For instance, we strongly improved our starts since the beginning of the season,” explained Ekstrom.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed about not being able to take home any trophies from the first overseas race of the season, but the gaps here were very small and the competition worked hard as well so that a few small mistakes had major consequences.”
Ekstrom looks to France to catch up in the Drivers Championship. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
With Ekstrom in sixth place in the Drivers Championship and four rounds of the season left to go, the EKS Audi Sport driver knows that every point counts in the fight for second place in the Championship.
“We need to continue to prepare at full throttle in order to strike back in the next race at Lohéac.”
