Mattias Ekström
Experienced and versatile, Mattias Ekström’s career has spanned multiple decades and types of car and in 2024, the Swedish driver will compete for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team in the Extreme E Championship.
After making his karting debut in 1993 and winning the Renault 5 Turbo Cup in 1996, Mattias’ breakthrough came in the Swedish Touring Car Championship where he finished as vice-champion in 1997 and champion in 1999.
The Swede switched to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for 2001 and went on to win the championship in 2004, beating his now NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team Manager Gary Paffett to the title. However, Gary got his own back a year later, wining DTM in 2005 as Mattias finished second.
Mattias dovetailed DTM alongside drives in rallying and the World Rally Championship, making his WRC debut in 1999 and earning a best finish of 10th at the 2005 Swedish Rally. In the same year, Mattias won the Nations' Cup with Tom Kristensen at the Race of Champions. He followed this up with the title Champion of Champions at the event in 2006, before beating Michael Schumacher to win the Race of Champions outright in 2007 – a feat he repeated in 2009. In 2007, Mattias also won his second DTM title.
Known as “a racing driver for all occasions,” few if anyone in racing can match his versatility. In 2010 as the Swedish racer became the first Scandinavian driver to take part in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010 and he led seven laps before finishing 21st overall. In 2013, he was a ‘wildcard’ entry in the Bathurst 1000 and also opted to try his hand at rallycross and competed in the Swedish round of the European Rallycross Championship, where he finished second before announcing the formation of his own team, EKS RX team. EKS RX ran for six seasons in WRC, winning the Championship in 2016 and finishing as vice-champions in 2017 and 2018.
He made his first steps into electric racing in 2021, winning the inaugural Pure ETCR Championship and making his Extreme E debut with Abt Cupra XE. After a year away from Extreme E, Mattias returned with Acciona | Sainz XE Team for 2023 and finished as Vice-Champion, winning twice.