CARS GLOBALMAG November2016 | Page 57

In the Germany RX event (held in Estering on October 14) Mattias Ekstrom finished just fifth but gaining enough points to secure its first title in the Rallycross world, ahead of two-time champion Solberg, with the Argentinian round still to come. The race was won by Kevin Eriksson (this was his very first overall win) who bested Petter Solberg and Andreas Bakkerud to the finish line. As a matter of fact it was a dominant season for the Swedish driver, winner of four events after the bad start in the first race in France (the only event won by rival Solberg), cruising on top of the charts for the entire season and delivering the final blow to the competition in the last three races (Spain, Latvia and Germany) also taking advantage of Petter Solberg’s difficulties. World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy, said: “Congratulations to Mattias Ekstrom who has become our new FIA World Rallycross Champion after forfeiting his first DTM race in over 15 years. Both Mattias and EKS have worked relentlessly since entering full-time in 2015 and for Mattias to have won in both DTM and now in rallycross proves what a natural talent he is behind the wheel. To become World RX Champion is no easy feat - we have some of the best drivers in the world competing in our Championship. Well done to Kevin Eriksson and Olsbergs MSE who took the first win of the year, Kevin’s pace during today final was extraordinary. Congratulations also to Krisztian and Ben-Philip who are our new Super1600 and TouringCar