Testing report

World Rallycross Media Day Silverstone 2018

Ekstrom and EKS Audi quickest in Silverstone RX test

Mattias Ekstrom’s EKS Audi Sport team was fastest in both wet and dry conditions at the second and final official World Rallycross Championship pre-season test at Silverstone this week.

Hal Ridge

Edited: Mar 28, 2018, 1:49 PM

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Andreas Bakkerud, Audi S1 EKS RX quattro

Andreas Bakkerud, Mattias Ekström, EKS, EKS

Mattias Ekström, EKS

Andreas Bakkerud, Audi S1 EKS RX quattro

Mattias Ekström, EKS, Andreas Bakkerud, EKS

Andreas Bakkerud, Audi S1 EKS RX quattro

Running its 2018-spec S1 Supercar in public for the second time, having revealed the car at the Loheac World RX test earlier this month in France, Ekstrom was joined at Silverstone by new teammate, Andreas Bakkerud.

With the test split into four sessions over Monday and Tuesday, only once did the EKS squad not top the order.

Newcomers GCK set the pace on Monday morning with the brand new Prodrive-built Renault Megane RS RX, in the hands of European Championship race-winner Jerome Grosset-Janin, with a time of 42.792s.

But, as the loose surface sections of the new Silverstone circuit cleaned in the afternoon, it was Ekstrom who set a new benchmark, his 41.601s some 1.191s faster than Grosset-Janin’s time.

Having raced in the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship at the same circuit a week earlier alongside teammate Sebastien Loeb, Team Peugeot Total driver Timmy Hansen was second fastest at the end of day one, just 0.266s shy of Ekstrom’s time, with Bakkerud third (+0.458s), Kevin Eriksson in an Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta fourth (+0.621s) and reigning World RX champion Johan Kristofferson fifth (+0,622), driving Volkswagen Motorsport’s 2018 Polo R Supercar.

Wet conditions greeted the teams on Tuesday and Ekstrom was again fastest in the morning session, but with a time almost 1.5s slower than his previous best.

Petter Solberg posted the second best lap, 0.419s adrift, while Guerlain Chicherit was third in a strong debut public outing for the Megane.

Although the conditions dried for the afternoon running, the Northamptonshire circuit remained slippery, with Bakkerud topping the table on a 44.807s, some way short of the best times set on Monday.

Despite topping the order, with the first eight drivers covered by 1.5 seconds at the end of the two days, double DTM champion Ekstrom says he’s pleased by more than just the performance of the EKS outfit’s new car.

“Testing is testing but I always believe that feeling is feeling. You know if you feel great in the car, you feel great in the team, you see some good work and good progress, you see that each individual in the team does a good job and you bring a lot of ideas to a test and execute them according to plan, then it is good,” the Swede told Motorsport.com.

“We have some new individuals in the team so for us it’s not only the times that make me most happy, it’s that we have a new group of people starting to work well together.”

Ekstrom and Bakkerud completed a total of 136 laps at Silverstone. “The biggest gain for us is just to drive the car because we’ve had so few days driving with our new car. We need every kilometre we can get.

"For us it has been a very important test because we found stuff out that we haven’t found out before.”

Asked how much of a step his Audi-backed squad has taken with its new 2018 car, Ekstrom told Motorsport.com: “I’m one thousand percent sure [that this car is quicker than the previous version], the question is just by how much.”

A notable absentee from the test was Marcus Gronholm’s GRX squad, but the team has begun testing its new WRC-derived Hyundai i20 Supercars behind closed doors.

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