"I am still not thinking about Formula One"

Mattias Ekstroem is not only considered one of the fastest touring car pilots, but also cuts a fine figure in the Rally World Championship circuit. In the second part of this interview, he makes his sporting plans for the future known, as well as how one can learn in the forest and why he is only a passenger in private.

You are considered an extremely talented racecar driver. It seems like you might have inherited this talent from your father who was a Rallycross pilot.
I discovered only quite late my love for the automobile. As a child, ice hockey and tennis fascinated me a lot more. Only much later did my father pass on to me some elements of his experience, but in the end you have to experience and learn everything yourself.

How did motor sports then win out over tennis and ice hockey?
I grew up in the middle of the forest. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I started driving through the forest everyday. And of course there too you really have to step on the gas a little. Then I tried out an old racecar from my dad, and that was it: Since then, this sport fascinates me.

Has he always supported your career?
Yes, my parents also often still come along these days to the races. However my dad can no longer give me any tips now, since times have greatly changed. But it really helps me a lot that he is there.

You come across as being very calm and balanced in private, but you are however one of the most aggressive drivers in the field. Does a switch get flipped in your brain, when you sit in a car?
Privately I am so calm, because I save my spirit and my strength for racecar driving. I don’t want to waste my energy. The moment I close the door of my car, I forget everything around me.

You are also considered a talented Rally racer and you have already started several times in WC races. Are there also races planned this year?
There are no more this year, but I am curious now what the future will bring. Rally racing is fun for me, and if I can ride at the top, it’s even more fun. I am glad that I am able to start in more than one racing series.

You are also part of the Red Bull Skoda Rally Team. What chances do you give your teammates Andreas Aigner and Harri Rovanperä in the world championship?
The competition in the Rally WC is unbelievably huge, but they both have good chances to have some good results. It is realistic to think that they will be able to place in the top six now and then – if everything goes well. In the Sweden Rally I just barely didn’t make it myself: When I had my accident, I was in fifth place.

As the Rookie of the team, Andreas Aigner is getting a very big chance at a very young age – What do you think of him? Is he this exceptionally talented driver people often call him?
I think that he will be able to have a great future in motor sports if he continues to drive like this and if he also continues to develop as he has thus far. He is fast, and he has a good attitude towards the sport. But each driver is also measured by his own results, of course, so I think that he will also have to show us some good results before the end of the year.

How do you think he will do? Will he be able to deal with this pressure?
I think so.

Let’s be completely open: Every racecar driver wants to sometime get involved in Formula One. What are your wishes and goals?
I am very glad that I am allowed to drive in the DTM. And as long as I may, I am not thinking about Formula One.

But Red Bull has two teams in Formula One. Wouldn’t it excite you to test such a car at least once?
Naturally it would excite me. Let’s see what the future brings.

Your girlfriend, Tina Toerner, is also a well-known motor sportswoman. Can you support each other mutually in your work?
Yes, certainly. This year she wants to try to participate in every DTM race. It’s nice not to be alone on a racing weekend.

If you are in the car driving somewhere together, who drives?
If we are in a hurry, I drive. Otherwise, I am just a passenger. I know that Tina drives very safely and level-headed.