The 2023 Race of Champions‘ host country will be represented by a dynamic duo as FIA World Rallycross rivals Mattias Ekström and Johan Kristoffersson join forces to create Team Sweden. The duo have combined for six championships in the series, and have also competed against each other in Extreme E.
Ekström, the 2016 World RX champion, is a three-time winner of the Race of Champions with victories in 2006, 2007, and 2009. He and Tom Kristensen also won the 2005 Nations Cup for Team Scandinavia. For 2023, he intends to have an exhibition in the Audi S1.
He is two weeks removed from completing his third Dakar Rally. In a frustrating race for him and his Team Audi Sport peers, Ekström was at least able to reach the finish in fourteenth overall. He and Audi will attempt to make up lost ground in the World Rally-Raid Championship by running the rest of the season. His team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel will also be at ROC to show off their Audi RS Q e-tron E2.
Outside of rally raid and rallycross, he ran the inaugural Extreme E season in 2021 for ABT CUPRA before departing and incidentally being replaced by another Dakar competitor in newly crowned winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. The two-time DTM champion also has experience in NASCAR, Supercars, and WRC.
“The Race of Champions has meant a lot to me over the years, especially being able to win it in Paris, London and Beijing,” Ekström said. “It was also great to be able to show my Audi A4 DTM with some demo laps down the years. Now I’m really looking forward to lapping in the classic Audi S1, especially as we are in Sweden.”
Kristoffersson is perhaps the greatest rallycross driver of all time, leading everyone in World RX championships with five and wins with thirty-five; Team Norway member and reigning Nations Cup winner Petter Solberg is the only other driver with two titles, while Timmy Hansen has the second most wins with just thirteen. His 2022 campaign saw a near total sweep as he won all but two of the eleven races to clinch his fifth crown.
2022 was also the year of his title defence in Extreme E. Driving for Rosberg X Racing alongside fellow Swede Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, the two established themselves as the top entry but multiple setbacks caused them to settle for runner-up to X44’s Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez. Loeb, a four-time and reigning ROC winner who lost to Ekström in the 2006 final, will represent Team France.
“Mattias Ekström is not just one of the most versatile drivers on Earth, he is also one of the most successful drivers we’ve ever had at the Race of Champions,” stated ROC president Fredrik Johnsson. “Now he will be joining up with his fellow World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, I’m sure Team Sweden will be one of the favourites to thrill their home fans with victory in the ROC Nations Cup. We can’t wait to welcome a packed house to cheer them on.”
The 2023 Race of Champions will take place on 28/29 January.
