Bengt Mattias Ekström (born 14 July 1978) is a racing and rally driver from Sweden, currently driving in the World Rally Raid Championship for M-Sport Ford Racing. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Audi from 2001 until his retirement in 2018, and has been competing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, also for Audi, since its inception in 2014. He is a FIA World Rallycross Champion, a two-time DTM champion and a four-time winner of the Race of Champions.
Career
Ekström debuted in karting in 1993. In the following years, he competed at the Renault 5 Turbo Cup, winning the championship in 1996. He progressed to the Swedish Touring Car Championship in 1997, finishing runner-up with a Volvo 850. In 1998, he drove a Ford Mondeo, claiming four podiums. Ekström won the 1999 championship driving an Audi A4 quattro. He switched rides again in 2000, finishing third with a factory Volvo S40.
In 2001, Ekström joined the Abt Junior team to compete at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Driving Audi TT, he finished eighth in his debut season, third in 2002, and fourth in 2003.
In 2004, Ekström won the 2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, defeating Mercedes rivals Gary Paffett and Christijan Albers. In the 2005 DTM season he finished second behind Paffett.
Ekström has also been active in rallying and the World Rally Championship. He debuted in the WRC in 1999 and recorded his best result at the 2005 Swedish Rally, finishing tenth in a Škoda factory team Fabia WRC. At the 2005 Race of Champions, Ekström won the Nations' Cup with Tom Kristensen. In 2006, he won the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and earned the title Champion of Champions at the 2006 Race of Champions, by winning over Sébastien Loeb in the individual event finals.
After a poor 2006 season, Ekström won his second DTM title in 2007 and went on to win the 2007 Race of Champions, beating Michael Schumacher in the individual finals. In 2009, he won the Race of Champions once more beating the seven-time world champion in the final.
Ekström became the first Scandinavian driver to take part in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in June 2010. He raced for Team Red Bull at Infineon Raceway, substituting for Brian Vickers in the No. 83 Toyota Camry, as Vickers was inactive for the remainder of the 2010 season due to blood clots. Ekström was able to finish 21st and lead seven laps, mostly remaining in the top-five or top-ten the whole day. However he did so ex-aequo with another Scandinavian driver as Jan Magnussen from Denmark also took part in the same race, eventually finishing ahead of Ekström. Ekström also ran the Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway where he started 42nd and finished 31st.
Ekström followed in the footsteps of his father Bengt by branching out into rallycross in 2013, competing in the Swedish round of the European Rallycross Championship in Höljes, finishing second in a Volkswagen Polo. He subsequently announced that he was establishing his own EKS RX team to compete in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The team made their debut at the Norwegian round of the 2014 World Rallycross Championship season in Hell, fielding a pair of Audi S1s for Ekström and 2013 Junior World Rally Champion Pontus Tidemand.
Ekström is widely regarded as one of the most versatile drivers in the world. He also participated in the Bathurst 1000 in 2013 alongside Andy Priaulx in a 'wildcard' entry. The entry qualified nineteenth and finished tenth, with former 1000 winner turned commentator Mark Skaife hailing his efforts, stating that he was "one of the best debutants I have seen", as well as being "the best international driver since Jacky Ickx". Ickx won the race on debut with Allan Moffat in 1977.
In January 2018, Ekström announced that he would be retiring from DTM, to concentrate on running his rallycross team, now with added support from Audi Sport. However, at the end of the season Audi decided to withdraw its works programme, leaving Ekström's team in limbo, with some of the team's Audi S1 were sold to the privateers. Eventually the team stayed as one-car privateer after signing Krisztián Szabó from Hungary, with Ekström does a wildcard entry at the inaugural World Rallycross event in Spa Francochamps.
Ekström returned to the World Rallycross Championship in 2020 season, initially as a wildcard for the first two rounds in Sweden for the JC Race Teknik team, which coincidentally, running two EKS RX's Audi S1. He replaced Latvian Jānis Baumanis who was unable to do the full season with the team due to funding issues caused by COVID-19 pandemic. Ekström ended up signed with the team for another two double-header rounds in Finland and Latvia, which he got two wins and five podiums out of six events so far, making him the championship contender along with fellow Swede Johan Kristoffersson.In 2021, Ekström made his first attempt at the Dakar Rally with a Yamaha side-by-side car. Although the race was riddled with technical issues and other problems, it provided valuable experience for his future Dakar ambitions.
Alongside his rally-raid training program, Ekström entered the world of electric touring cars by joining Cupra x Zengő Motorsport for the inaugural season of Pure ETCR (later rebranded as FIA ETCR). He won Cupra’s home event in Spain and finished on the podium at all other races. This performance earned him the drivers’ title and secured the teams’ title for Cupra. He also competed in the Extreme E electric off-road championship with the Abt Cupra team. Later in the year, Ekström was announced as a works driver for the Audi Dakar project alongside Dakar legends Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel. Ekström, together with his navigator Emil Bergkvist, began the 2022 Dakar Rally in the innovative Audi RS Q e-tron rally-raid car. The crew won one stage and finished the rally in ninth place overall. Throughout the year, Ekström also continued his circuit racing career with the Cupra EKS team in the FIA ETCR championship, where he finished second in the overall standings and helped secure the manufacturers’ title.In 2023, Ekström returned to the Dakar with Audi, but the rally proved difficult for the team as all three cars suffered misfortunes that impacted results. He finished 14th overall. After Dakar, Ekström joined the Acciona Sainz Extreme E team as the male driver, replacing Carlos Sainz, who was still recovering from a Dakar accident. The team finished third in the 2023 Extreme E season. The 2024 Dakar Rally marked Ekström’s final race with Audi. The rally looked promising for the Ekström/Bergkvist crew until a technical issue forced them out of contention. For the remaining stages, Ekström acted as a support car for his teammate Carlos Sainz, who ultimately claimed overall victory. Ekström also joined McLaren Extreme E team, but this cooperation didn't last long, as the championship was cancelled mid season.
On 1st October 2024, Ekström announced his move to the M-Sport Ford team for their Dakar program. The 2025 Dakar Rally, contested in the newly built Ford Raptor T1+, was Ekström’s most successful rally at the time. The crew climbed into the top-three early in the event, won one stage, and finished the rally in third place overall. The crew of Ekström and Bergkvist repeated the result and claimed third place overall also in Dakar Rally 2026.
Racing record
Complete Swedish Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Pts 1997 Troberg – Rydell Junior Team Volvo 850 GLT MAN1 MAN2 KIN1 KIN2 AND1 AND2 FAL1 FAL2 KNU1 KNU2 KAR1 KAR2 2nd 192 1998 Troberg – Rydell Junior Team Ford Mondeo Ghia MAN1 MAN2 KAR1 KAR2 AND1 AND2 FAL1 FAL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 8th 97 1999 Kristoffersson Motorsport Audi A4 Quattro MAN1 MAN2 KNU1 KNU2 KAR1 KAR2 AND1 AND2 FAL1 FAL2 AND1 AND2 ARC1 ARC2 MAN1 MAN2 1st 215 2000 Volvo S40 Racing Team Sweden Volvo S40 KAR1 KAR2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 FAL1 FAL2 AND1 AND2 ARC1 ARC2 KAR1 KAR2 MAN1 MAN2 3rd 165
Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 1999 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 Quattro SAC1 SAC2 ZWE1 ZWE2 OSC1 OSC2 NOR1 NOR2 MIS1 MIS2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAL1 SAL2 OSC1 OSC2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 23rd 47
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2001 Abt Sportsline Junior Abt-Audi TT-R HOCQR HOCCR NÜRQR NÜRCR OSCQR OSCCR SACQR SACCR NORQR NORCR LAUQR LAUCR NÜRQR NÜRCR A1RQR A1RCR ZANQR ZANCR HOCQR HOCCR 8th 38 2002 Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R HOCQR HOCCR ZOLQR ZOLCR DONQR DONCR SACQR SACCR NORQR NORCR LAUQR LAUCR NÜRQR NÜRCR A1RQR A1RCR ZANQR ZANCR HOCQR HOCCR 3rd 50 2003 Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R HOC ADR NÜR LAU NOR DON NÜR A1R ZAN HOC 4th 46 2004 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC EST ADR LAU NOR SHA1 NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC 1st 74 2005 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2005 HOC LAU SPA BRN OSC NOR NÜR ZAN LAU IST HOC 2nd 71 2006 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2006 HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC 8th 21 2007 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2007 HOC OSC LAU BRH NOR MUG ZAN NÜR CAT HOC 1st 50 2008 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2008 HOC OSC MUG LAU NOR ZAN NÜR BRH CAT BUG HOC 3rd 56 2009 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2009 HOC LAU NOR ZAN OSC NÜR BRH CAT DIJ HOC 5th 41 2010 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2009 HOC VAL LAU NOR NÜR ZAN BRH OSC HOC ADR SHA 5th 35 2011 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2009HOCZANSPLLAUNORNÜRBRHOSCVALHOC 2nd 52 2012 Abt Sportsline Audi A5 DTM HOC LAU BRH SPL NOR NÜR ZAN OSC VAL HOC 6th 81 2013 Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC BRH SPL LAU NOR MSC NÜR OSC ZAN HOC 7th 68 2014 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC OSC HUN NOR MSC SPL NÜR LAU ZAN HOC 2nd 106 2015 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 NOR1 NOR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SPL1 SPL2 MSC1 MSC2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 3rd 147 2016 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC1 HOC2 SPL1 SPL2 LAU1 LAU2 NOR1 NOR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 MSC1 MSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 HOC1 HOC2 7th 107 2017 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 HUN1 HUN2 NOR1 NOR2 MSC1 MSC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SPL1 SPL2 HOC1 HOC2 2nd 176 2018 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 HUN1 HUN2 NOR1 NOR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SPL1 SPL2 HOC1 HOC2 NC‡ 0‡ 1 Shanghai was a non-championship round. † Retired, but was classified as he completed 75% of the winner's race distance. ‡ As Ekström was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2010 Team Red Bull 83 Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 58th 175
Complete V8 Supercar results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Team No. Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pos Points 2013 Triple Eight Race Engineering 10 Holden VF Commodore ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 SYMR5 PUKR6 PUKR7 PUKR8 PUKR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 COTAR13 COTAR14 COTAR15 COTAR16 HIDR17 HIDR18 HIDR19 TOWR20 TOWR21 QLDR22 QLDR23 QLDR24 WINR25 WINR26 WINR27 SANR28 BATR29 SURR30 SURR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 SYDR35 SYDR36 55th 156
Complete WRC results (key)