Olsbergs MSE on double duty in 2015

As the guys at Ford Olsbergs MSE did in the past season, the Swedish squad will split their attention into the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where they got the teams championship last year, and the Global Rallycross Championship, where they got the drivers title last season.

Of course, they are going to the challenges of the current season with the tried and approved Ford Fiesta ST, a machine that was capable of winning events in the 2014 FIA World RX season and is a title eater in GRC, as the past titles since 2012 gone to the Olsbergs MSE guys.

Driver lineups in the FIA World RX remain unchanged, and in fact, Olsbergs MSE brings another driver to the group, as Andreas Bakkerud and Reinis Nitiss will have Timur Timerzyanov alongside them, even though Timerzyanov is a wildcard entry under the Namous OMSE team.

Bakkerud secured two wins like a boss and a fifth place in the drivers’ standings, while Nitiss, as a supercar class rookie, won the Norwegian RX event and finished third in the drivers’ standings, which was enough to secure the teams title. Timerzyanov is a proven talent, as he has two titles in the European Rallycross Championship, and comes to Ford after a season with Team Peugeot-Hansen, where he scored a 3^rd place in Canada as his best finish. Also, there’s the fact that these drivers help to spice up the show, like Bakkerud and his push-ups winning celebration.

For the GRC season, 2014 champion Joni Wiman will still be onboard an Olsbergs Fiesta ST to secure his second title in a row, and maybe with a win or more unlike last year, where three second place finishes were the highest place achieved for the Finnish driver. The surprise is in the other Fiesta, as they brought a pretty young guy to deal with the 600-hp monster, in the name of Mitchell DeJong. When I say pretty young, there’s no exaggeration, as he’s only 17 years old, although his GRC Lites title with seven wins last year is a proof of what the kid can do.

Want to keep track of every step of Olsbergs MSE during the 2015 season? Simple task, as the hashtags #OMSE and #XForces, part of the new team slogan “Extreme Forces”, will give that good help to you.

PHOTOS: Mountune, FIA World RX, Red Bull GRC