Norway’s Daniel Holten has confirmed that he will drive a brand new Volkswagen Beetle Supercar for Eklund Motorsport at the Swedish round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship to be held in Holjes next month.
The announcement, which was reported on the FIA World Rallycross website, confirms the announcement made by Team Principal Per Eklund during the off season, when he announced his intention to run a Volkswagen Beetle Supercar at selected Rallycross events in 2015 thank to the new Custom Engine Regulations being used in WorldRX. Eklund himself is a legendary figure in Rallycross, having run such drivers as Henning Solberg and Ramona Karlsson in Saab 93 Supercars during last year’s FIA European Rallycross Championship.
Holten is no stranger to the World Rallycross stage as he drove a Fiesta Supercar for the Ford Olsbergs MSE squad in 2014 where he qualified for the Semi-Finals at both Holjes and Hell against some of the best in WorldRX. Eklund is looking forward to the debut of Holten in the VW Supercar, which will run with the number 53 and in a “Herbie” livery.
“It’s great to be working with a driver like Daniel who has already proven his potential. We are confident that the Beetle is a brilliant base for a Supercar, the dimensions of it are really, really good. We are more motivated than ever and will push hard to continue the development, together with Daniel,” said Eklund.
The young Norwegian driver is looking forward to getting to grips with the car against the current field of 18 regular WorldRX at Holjes, but his aim of a regular drive in the Supercar in either WorldRX or EuroRX is clear.
“The Swedish World RX round is maybe the most prestigious race in the whole of World RX. To get to drive a car for Eklund Motorsport and with Per Eklund as coach is huge for me. The aim is to compete with a Supercar in the European and World Championships,” said Holten. “The result of what happens at Holjes will decide how it develops further, perhaps we will also race at the Norwegian World RX round at Hell in August.”
The Volkswagen Beetle is an iconic Rallycross car that was used in European Rallycross up until the 1990s. The current generation Supercar is used in Red Bull GRC action by Volkswagen Andretti Autosport, who field three-time X Games Gold medalist Scott Speed and Double GRC Champion Tanner Foust, whilst the original version of the Beetle still sees action today in the RetroRallycross Challenge, as part of the British Rallycross Championship, where is it driven by James Harrold.
