Mattias Ekström has become something of a Race Of Champions superstar in the past few years, winning three ‘Champion of Champions’ titles.
The Swedish driver’s day job is in Germany’s DTM touring car series, where he has won two championships for Audi in 2004 and 2007. But Ekström has proved himself to be an all-rounder who is equally comfortable in all the cars used in the ROC – due in part to eight starts in the World Rally Championship.
Ekström was also one of the first Scandinavian drivers to take part in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in 2010 - and he has since spread his wings even further. In 2013 he made a successful appearance in the legendary V8 Supercar race at Bathurst, even leading the field at one point. He also raced strongly in the X-Games in Munich and took second place on his European Rallycross debut in Sweden.
Ekström has an admirable record at the Race Of Champions, starting in 2005 when he partnered Tom Kristensen to ROC Nations Cup glory for Team Scandinavia. The next year he came back and beat Sébastien Loeb in the Race Of Champions final - in the Frenchman's own rally car.
Since then he has gone from strength to strength, defeating Michael Schumacher in two different finals – in 2007 at Wembley and in 2009 at Beijing.