"If you prepare like a winner, one day you will become a winner"
Crew facts
ME
- A year ago, he admitted that the most significant career challenge was competing in and winning the Dakar Rally. And he came very close in the last edition. Firmly in third place from the start of the rally, he was only 24 minutes behind the leader as he approached the decisive stages of the Empty Quarter. The Ford M-Sport driver ultimately finished on the podium (3rd), his best Dakar result to date.
- Born in Sweden, Mattias Ekström developed his passion for motorsports with a wide variety of vehicles, taking advantage of his country's wide open spaces. This multi-talented virtuoso has excelled in various disciplines: two DTM titles, a World Rallycross Championship, three victories in the Race of Champions, and the very first title in the Pure ETCR series.
- A pure Audi man, the Swede has spent his entire career with the legendary German brand. Before taking his place in the driver's seat of the RS Q e-tron in rally-raid, the 43-year-old driver got a taste of the Dakar in 2021 when he competed in a Yamaha T3. Although he did not finish, the experience gave him an insight into the difficulties involved.
- A year later, for Audi's much-awaited Dakar debut, the Swede was the team's top performer, finishing in the Top 10 (9th). He is also the only Audi driver to have finished every Dakar Rally the brand entered, with two stage victories along the way.
- This aficionado of powerful engines will again rev up the V8 engine of his Raptor in the upcoming Dakar Rally, with his usual co-driver Emil Bergkvist at his side.
EB
- Emil Bergkvist is a former rally driver and was one of the most promising talents in the sport, winning the 2015 European Junior Championship and then the World Junior Championship three years later. However, it was from the passenger seat that he discovered the Dakar Rally in 2021, in a Yamaha SSV driven by his friend and compatriot Mattias Ekstrom.
- The 30-year-old Swede then reached a milestone, winning his first stage a year later, again with Ekström, in an Audi hybrid.
- After three years in an Audi, the co-driver, who has adapted perfectly to the rigours of rally raiding, embarked on the Ford adventure, which culminated in a 3rd place finish in the Dakar last January.
- To prepare for the Dakar, Bergkvist joined his driver for several rounds of the W2RC (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Morocco Rally) in the Ford Raptor to fine-tune the settings of their car, but also in a lighter vehicle in Challenger, the EKS X3+, to gain even more rally-raid experience, particularly in Spain, Portugal, and the Qatar International Baja.
Ambition
M.E.: "We can be very proud, as a team, to have been able to fight at the front and show good speed and consistency in the last Dakar. The Ford Raptor T1+ performed exceptionally well throughout this incredibly challenging race. Now I can't wait to return and fight for the overall victory.
I don't think I could motivate myself to race if I couldn't aim for victory. Sometimes it's not realistic to think you're going to win, but I also like to be unrealistic. If you prepare like a winner, you will one day be a winner.
I see how much effort I've put into thinking about Dakar, into preparing for Dakar. And you know, throughout my motorsport career, I've always had one priority. At first it was DTM, then Rallycross, and now it's Dakar. Everything else is priority number two.
I like that you have to be extremely fit, mentally strong, and have an excellent technical feel to find the correct settings. It's a very complex motorsport discipline. When it comes to dust, navigation, and certain situations, it can be so painful. It's so frustrating. But that's also what motivates me to master and conquer it.
E.B.:' It was our best result so far in the Dakar Rally. I'm so proud of us and the team! Mattias did an incredible job, and I'm also very satisfied with my own contribution as a navigator. I can't see myself ever stopping what I'm doing.
The bp Rally Raid Portugal and Qatar Baja were also a lot of fun because we got to drive our own car! It also taught us a lot of valuable lessons for the future, and we feel more than ready for our next adventure!"
