Bakkerud promises to leave no stone unturned in bid to fight back
Having conceded the championship lead to Johan Kristoffersson last time out at Höljes, Andreas Bakkerud has left no doubt that he is fully focused on an immediate response in the upcoming fourth round of the 2026 Euro RX1 campaign at Mondello Park (18-19 July).
Bakkerud entered the dual-surface discipline’s legendary ‘Magic Weekend’ in possession of a slender single-point advantage at the summit of the standings after triumphing in the second outing of the season at Nyirád in Hungary, and the Norwegian remained firmly in the hunt throughout the Qualifying stages in Sweden.
In front of his family, friends and sponsors, Bakkerud nailed the start in Q1 to seize the initiative straightaway, going on to post the third-quickest time of the session. Another lightning launch in Q2 came to nought, however, when his SET Promotion-prepared Ford Fiesta was caught up as collateral damage in a Turn Two clash between Kristoffersson and Casper Jansson that sent him into a spin and restricted him to just the 22nd-best time in the high-calibre, 28-strong field.
The Bergen Motorsport Evolution star anticipated the lights to perfection once more in Q3, and with only Kristoffersson going faster overall, that proved sufficient to vault Bakkerud from 13th up to second in the overnight classification.
In very wet conditions on Sunday morning, the three-time FIA European Rallycross Champion – with fellow multiple title-winner Anton Marklund on the radio as his spotter for the event – got the better of Kristoffersson at the start of Q4 but subsequently skated straight on and through the gravel at the bottom of the hill, costing him the position to his arch-rival.
Worse still, with the earlier Q4 races having taken place on a drier track, that left Bakkerud just 18th, but fourth in the post-heats ranking nevertheless earned him pole for the last Quarter-Final, which he dominated throughout. Belying the fact that the front row is rarely favourable at Höljes in the wet, he led by almost eight seconds at one stage prior to backing off to secure a comfortable race win.
From second on the grid for the Semi-Final, the Bergen native cut across pole-sitter Peter Hedström at the start before soaking up intense pressure from countryman Ole Christian Veiby and home hero Jansson, narrowly losing out to the pair in a tight last lap joker merge.
That made the difference between lining up on the front row and the back row for the all-important Final, and while Bakkerud again unleashed his razor-sharp reactions at lights-out, he was obliged to slot in behind Kristoffersson and Jansson as the other three drivers all darted into the joker on the opening tour.
In a close contest for the bottom step of the podium, once all the strategies had played out, the 34-year-old found himself down in fifth, less than a second adrift of the rostrum, with victory and a maximum score for Kristoffersson compounding his frustration.
The result dropped Bakkerud from first to second in the title chase, 19 points shy of the top of the table. Reflecting upon his rollercoaster ride in Sweden while looking ahead to Euro RX’s imminent return to Ireland, he acknowledged the necessity of swiftly bouncing back.
“That was one of the craziest and most challenging rallycross events for a long time,” mused the 2019 World RX championship runner-up. “It was hectic, with changing weather, punctures and black flags, and things kept turning around quickly – the ‘Magic Weekend’ never disappoints!
“Höljes is probably my favourite track in the whole world, and as a fan of the sport, it was fantastic to see the event growing again after the last few years and to see that the passion is back.
“We’ve been working hard to improve the car and it felt good on the Saturday, although we struggled a bit with track evolution being in the early races in Q1 and Q3, so we didn’t really know where we were pace-wise.
“Unfortunately, when it dried up on the Sunday, we didn’t get the rotation right to get the traction down and basically lost speed – it’s something we’ve been trying to resolve since the beginning of the season. In both the Semi-Final and Final, I was a sitting duck – there really wasn’t much I could do. Fifth place was disappointing and clearly not the result we would’ve liked, but you either win or you learn and this time, we learned.
“The team is doing a great job, and we just need to dig deeper and turn over every stone – quickly – to come back stronger. We’ll fight again another day, and I’m really looking forward to Mondello. I’ve only been to Ireland once before. It was one of my first trips with Ken [Block] and the gang, and the first time driving the Hoonigan Racing Ford Focus RS RX. The car wasn’t ready when we got there, so we took a trip to Belfast for two days with Kris Meeke, who showed us round. That was a blast, and I’m sure this weekend will be, too!”
