Mattias Ekström, Dakar 2025 with Ford: “We are ready for anything”

It’s a varied career Mattias Ekström in motorsport. The Swedish driver has in fact 18 seasons of the Championship under his belt Dtm and 9 World Cups Rallycrossas well as participations in the Swedish Touring Car Championship, the World Rally Championship, NASCAR and even the Australian V8 Supercars Championship. On top of all this, Ekström is currently running his fifth Dakarto the forces of the new Ford team, which entrusted him with one of the four Raptor T1+ brought to the race. On the rest day following the grueling Marathon stage, the Swede takes stock of the situation while he is in third position in the overall ranking. And among the secrets behind his performances, in addition to very rigorous training, there is precisely the wide range of four-wheeled experiences.

With the Dakar at the halfway point, we are already looking at the second week and the final finish line. Do you feel the pressure?
​“I am as calm and motivated as the first day. I don’t feel pressure because I try to do my best every day. Our approach does not change, also because there is no other way to tackle the Dakar: we need to stay clear and focused, push as much as possible and bring the vehicle back safely to the bivouac every evening. The Dakar is tackled one day at a time, even if you have the final goal in front of you.

After a week of rocks, you will now find a lot of sand.
​“We had a very difficult start with two marathon stages over four stages. The special stages were very long, even a thousand kilometers in the 48 Hours. We will have two and a half more days of sand and stones and then two and a half days of pure dunes in the Empty Quarter. We are ready for anything and our Raptor also performed well on the various types of terrain.”

A complete driver with a background in the world of varied motorsport, how important was it to race in other disciplines too?
​“I come from the track where it is very important to analyze every single detail and I bring this approach here too. I think in the end not much changes. I talk a lot with the engineers, they also analyze everything. Everyone in the team has the same goal and to get to the goal every detail counts.”

Were you able to relax on the rest day, ready for the final rush?
​“Arriving at the halfway point is a first goal achieved. The cars have been completely dismantled and rebuilt, a complete overhaul done and I can’t wait to get back on the road. Of course you can feel the fatigue, but it’s important to arrive prepared, eat well and rest as much as possible, when possible.”