Mattias Ekström‘s EKS RX team have been busy preparing for the upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship and are ready to hit the ground running at the first round at Montalegre, Portugal this weekend.

Ekström finished the 2015 season in joint fifth place, this was despite missing two rounds due to DTM commitments, he will be looking to build on his victory and two second places this year. “The start of the season feels a bit like Christmas in childhood,” says Ekström. “You are so excited about all of the presents and completely focused on opening the first one.”

A final test at Lousada this week will provide the team with some last minute fine tuning on their two completely new Audi S1 EKS RX quattro‘s.

“We hope for some sunshine and dry conditions, but at the moment there is winter wonderland. Last year’s Montalegre RX was a festival of mud and rain. Especially on Saturday it was not only racing for us, but also a bit of a test day.” he added.

Joining Ekström this season is Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen, the former Red Bull Global Rallycross champion is looking forward to his début in EKS colours this weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to it.” said Heikkinen. “EKS is a great team and the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro is super fun to drive. We did some proper testing on different tracks and I still need some more practice during the next weeks, but I’m ready to rumble Portugal.”

The opening round of 2015 saw both drivers make it through to the semi finals, Ekström was classified seventh, while Heikkinen finished eighth.