The Latest Breaking News from Mattias Ekstrom

A gruelling day in the Saudi Arabian desert, during which two more Dakar rally riders were forced to quit, has ended with both Australians still in contention.

In an ultra-competitive Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya pass covering 438km, which saw the stage lead swap between multiple runners, a four-way victory fight developed between Toyota’s Moraes, Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom, Overdrive’s Al-Rajhi and defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah for Prodrive. 

The 2024 Dakar Rally will be the fifth successive event to take place entirely in Saudi Arabia, but organiser ASO has laid out a route that will be vastly different to previous years.

Johan Kristoffersson enjoyed another memorable year by securing a record-breaking sixth World Rallycross Championship and became Extreme E’s first double champion.

Despite Audi withdrawing factory backing from GT3 racing and reducing its involvement to basic supply of spare parts, Abt will continue to field a pair of R8 LMS GT3s in the German category in 2024.

1. Veloce become title contenders in most open season yet

Fraser McConnell and reigning champion Christina Gutierrez took victory for X44 in Saturday’s grand final before being hampered by a crash on Sunday, with Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor prevailing for Veloce in the second final.

The 2023 Extreme E season kicked off earlier this month with back-to-back races in Saudi Arabia and one team that stood out from the rest of the competition was Veloce Racing.

Located in Dumfries and Galloway, the disused coal mine is to be transformed into a Pumped Storage Hydropower plant and wind farm – an ideal location for Extreme E to promote electric power and clean energy solutions.