Subaru expands to four cars as Bakkerud and Wiman get in

Subaru Motorsports USA has a good shot at the 2019 Americas Rallycross Championship title, and to maximize their chances, an extra pair of WRX STis will be in with Andreas Bakkerud and Joni Wiman at the wheel.

Well, five cars should be expected, but Subaru suffered quite a blow as Scott Speed sustained severe back injuries when racing in Nitro Rallycross, which will force the current leader to sit out of the rest of the season. Although Subaru needs to rely on Patrik Sandell and Chris Atkinson to take the title from Tanner Foust, both Subaru drivers have a nine point deficit to the Volkswagen Andretti driver, all while Steve Arpin sits in fourth just four points behind them.

The duo that’s being brought in is proven material, as Bakkerud is currently the World RX runner-up with a strong shot to the title and a win in Canada this year, all while having successful previous experiences with Olsbergs MSE, Hoonigan Racing Division and EKS, with the latter supporting his Monster Energy RX Cartel team currently.

Wiman comes with a GRC Lites title and a Global Rallycross title with Olsbergs MSE, coming in for the supercars with the Swedish team just a year before Bakkerud, with a bit more spent with them, specially being part of the Honda Civic RX project which currently runs in RallyX Nordic. This year, Wiman had to sub for Niclas Grönholm in World RX at Spa and Silverstone in GRX TANECO, and his first contacts with the Hyundai i20 RX were impressive, showing the strong pace that was always there and grabbing a podium in Belgium.

Bakkerud and Wiman will jump in the Subarus at the Circuit of the Americas on September 28^th and then in the season finale at Mid-Ohio on October 6^th.

PHOTO - Andreas Bakkerud