Double start for Audi star Mattias Ekström

The 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship will start at Montalegre, Portugal, next weekend (April 16/17). Team EKS is fielding two Audi S1 EKS RX quattro cars for Ekström and new signing Toomas Heikkinen from Finland. Thanks to a 

560-hp four-cylinder turbo engine and quattro drive, the compact sports car manages the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in breathtaking 2.4 seconds.

“I’d like to see quattro drive in the DTM as well. Unfortunately, it’s prohibited there,” says Mattias Ekström. “I’ve always been a quattro fan. Ever since I started driving the Audi S1 in the World RX I love quattro.” That’s also why his team uses a new hashtag, #welovequattro, this season. New as well is Mattias Ekström’s adoption of “5,” the number of his DTM car, for the 2016 World Rally Championship. “That way, the spectators only have to remember a single
number …”

Besides the DTM and the World Rallycross Championship, there is another reason for Audi fans to travel to Hockenheim on the second weekend in May. The Audi Sport TT Cup, which makes it possible for young drivers to enter motorsport, will be holding its first two events of the season. The DTM and the Audi Sport TT Cup will be racing on the 4.574-kilometer Grand Prix circuit. For the World RX round, a short, 1.24-kilometer track with 60 percent tarmac and 40 percent gravel has been created in the Motodrom.

Tickets and VIP packages for the DTM Festival at Hockenheim are available online on the redesigned Audi Sport website at www.audi-motorsport.com.