Bakkerud: We need to play with the cards we have
Andreas Bakkerud says playing to the strengths of his Ford Fiesta will be the key to challenging Johan Kristoffersson for the 2026 FIA European Rallycross Championship crown, after closing the gap at the summit of the standings with his second success of the season following an epic battle at Mondello Park last weekend.
Bakkerud travelled to Ireland determined to fight back from a disappointing conclusion to round three of the campaign at Höljes in Sweden, where he could manage no better than fifth place in the Final while Kristoffersson triumphed. In terms of out-and-out pace, it was a similar story on the ‘Emerald Isle’ – but this time, the Norwegian’s razor-sharp racecraft made the difference.
In front of a number of team partners and swathes of BakkerudBLUE fans swelling the circuit grandstands and banking, Bakkerud got the better of a tight tussle with SET Promotion stablemate Joni Turpeinen in Q1 to post the third-fastest time amongst the 25 high-calibre Euro RX1 protagonists – albeit some way shy of Kristoffersson’s benchmark.
In Q2, the three-time European Champion swiftly made up for a slow start by flinging his Fiesta all the way around the outside through Turn Two to regain a couple of places. He subsequently read the developing situation to perfection at the end of the long main straight to duck underneath the duelling Kristoffersson and Juha Rytkönen exiting the following left-hander, duly seizing the initiative courtesy of a spectacular double overtake.
It was not long, however, before he found himself under intense pressure from the eight-time World Champion – joking that ‘the VW has never been bigger in my mirrors!’ Contact from behind tipped him into a half-spin; while he did well to save it, the impact left him carrying exhaust damage that thereafter blunted his top speed and restricted him to fourth overall.
Bakkerud showcased similar awareness at the beginning of Q3 the next morning, as he saw drama unfolding ahead and sagely swept to the outside of the track. Undercutting all of his adversaries to emerge from Turn Two in the lead, he proceeded to stave off Q2 pace-setter Patrick O’Donovan to win his race and post the third-best run of the session.
In Q4, the Bergen native went one spot better to second, and while he was unable to live with Kristofferson, he had the measure of everybody else. He knew he needed to beat the other KMS car of Ole Christian Veiby to grab Top Qualifier honours – and he did so by just over a quarter-of-a-second.
That paved the way to a comfortable Quarter-Final victory – after soaking up some early heat from 2024 Euro RX1 Champion, O’Donovan – and Bakkerud repeated the feat at the Semi-Final stage, easing away as his adversaries squabbled energetically in his wake prior to backing off to safely secure pole position for the all-important, points-paying Final.
There, the Bergen Motorsport Evolution ace once again made the most of his grid slot to lead into Turn One, only for Veiby to rapidly close him down. Even after his countryman jokered, there was no respite, as Kristoffersson immediately took up the pursuit. One way or another, a KMS celebration looked inevitable, but when the Volkswagen pair began battling each other, Bakkerud was able to inch away, going on to prevail for the second time in 2026.
The result was richly deserved not only for the 34-year-old’s dogged defence and refusal to be forced into errors, but also for his outstanding consistency, with his first four laps in the Final all blanketed by a tiny six hundredths-of-a-second – testament to his admission that he could not have done any more. Replicate that kind of performance in the remaining rounds of the season at Lohéac and Lousada, and he knows a fourth European title could just be on...
“That was insane – just awesome!” enthused Bakkerud, who made it two consecutive Norwegian winners in Euro RX in County Kildare, following compatriot Ludvig Hunsbedt’s triumph the previous time the series had visited the venue back in 1996. “Ireland is such a beautiful country and Mondello Park is such a cool track, but I didn’t really have the feeling over the weekend.
“I think we played our cards the best we could, trying to stay out of trouble, but we are developing as we go and trialling different bits and pieces, which means some of the heats aren’t always so good. Sometimes we take a step forward, sometimes we take a step back.
“It’s tough. KMS has such an advantage over us on-track, whereas we have a little bit over them at the starts. We need to give away some of the starts to be able to go faster, but you also need to end up in the right position for the Final and to be on pole was my target. When I saw Johan [Kristoffersson] behind me, I knew I had to save my tyres for when he jokered to be able to go all-in.
“We put everything together when it mattered, and I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team – it felt incredible to win. We’re trying our hardest and we executed really well. The KMS boys are flying out there and we’re trying to even the deficit up where we can, but we need to play with the cards we have. Closing the gap to Johan in the championship to only seven points gives us a chance again.”
