The Baby Blue will have an extended run in the FIA Euro RX1 Championship, as Andreas Bakkerud was confirmed by ESMotorsport to remain in the competition for two more rounds, at Lohéac and Riga.
His car will be of course the Skoda Fabia WRX Evo that he drove to third place at Höljes, being beaten only by Thomas Bryntesson and Jean Baptiste Dubourg, and another former World RX driver is confirmed as his team mate, as Janis Baumanis will stay in the second machine to hopefully bounce back of his subpar weekend in Sweden.
After the end of the 2020 season, Bakkerud was left without a drive as GCK moved out of World RX, which was followed by the announcement that Monster Energy RX Cartel moved to the Nitro Rallycross with Liam Doran and Robin Larsson as the drivers. Before the Höljes RX weekend, Bakkerud only had a single appearance in the RallyX Nordic with a STARD Fiesta ERX, but his prowess with the Fabia WRX Evo appeared quickly, as well his knowledge of the track, justifying why he almost conquered the 2019 World RX title, and even a spin during the Qualifying wasn’t enough to stop the Norwegian.
For ESMotorsport, the road has been rough at the top level of rallycross too, with some moments of celebration in between. The team was set for a full World RX season in 2019, only to part ways with its driver at the time, Rokas Baciuska, after two rounds, and then spread its efforts with François Duval, Kevin Abbring and Matvey Furazhkin, and Abbring showed what the Fabia could do as did a pair of fourth place finishes at Hell and Höljes.
For 2020, the Lithuanian team went for a single round campaign, putting Reinis Nitiss in the Riga RX double header, only to qualify for the Semifinals in one of the rounds, and this year, the Ernestas Staponkus-led operation opted to challenge the Euro RX1, initially confirming only Baumanis but later announcing Bakkerud.
While not being watching the season get going from his sofa is a massive step for Bakkerud, he is aiming a little bit higher with ESMotorsport, as his Euro RX1 campaign may be complemented with a return to World RX this year, even if it is to just end the season and test how the Fabia WRX Evo fares against the World stage opposition, which has his 2019 title rival Timmy Hansen in the top of the standings.
The Lohéac RX will be held on 4-5 September, with World RX, Euro RX1, RX2e and Euro RX3 present.
PHOTO: ESMotorsport
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