Audi AG has announced that it will support Mattias Ekström’s EKS squad in the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.
The unexpected announcement comes after Volkswagen Motorsport confirmed it would be supporting Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson in a pair of Polo RX Supercars.
"When we took our first steps to build EKS, we dreamed about becoming World Champions and we did it – in three years," said Ekström after the announcement. "We also dreamed about getting support from Audi, to be able to stay on the top and compete for more championships but now we have got that too."
Wold RX champ Ekström will drive his current Audi S1 EKS RX quattro while all future technical development of the RX quattro will now have the full support of the German manufacturer’s motorsport department.
"We realise that it’s going to be increasingly difficult for EKS to hold its own against the factory teams, so we chose to intensify our World RX commitment," stated the Head of Audi Motorsport, Dieter Gass.
Ekström added: "We laid a lot of groundwork as a team in the first three years, gathered important experiences and set new standards with EKS. But it was also clear to us that we’d need support for the future in order to be able to continue on this level. The fact that EKS is now receiving factory backing by Audi makes me very happy – I’m convinced that rallycross has a great future."
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