Mattias Ekstrom: “Take every day seriously and do your best every day”

Dakar 2026 | Stage 12 | MARRAKECH > MARRAKECH
January 16 ^th 2026 - 14:00 [GMT + 3]

The Swedish driver remains in contention for third place in the overall standings and will attempt to finish on the podium at the Dakar Rally, as he did last year.

 “We had a good stage. I’m impressed with Emil because I said in the morning that I would like to try and push but when you go full gas and you have no marks, it’s so difficult for the navigators. I’m very happy with what he did today and also the car was working fine, no issues or no punctures […]. The marathon was still hard to accept and to swallow that we had issues there, but yesterday was good and today I feel good. […] I love this sport and the best training to become a Dakar champion is to take every day seriously and do your best every day You only have 13 days of the Dakar every year. Everything else is not the same. For me, this type of rally is so unique […]. But it’s demanding, it’s difficult and it’s something you cannot practice at home, there are no simulators. What happens in Spain, Portugal Europe or in Africa, well I’m sorry to everybody, but Saudi Arabia is Saudi Arabia and to be good here you need to train here.

I feel that I’m a better driver. I also think that Emil is a better co-pilot. Together, I feel we learned more about navigation than about car driving, but learning to understand the pace and the terrain is what it’s alla bout. I’ve started to really fall in love with this sport. Carlos [Sainz] is still a hero for me, to still be so good at his age shows me that I can have 15 years more to go”.