Swedish female karting star Jessica Bäckman has just announced she will be joining her older brother, as well as fellow karter, Andreas Bäckman, on the 2017 RX Lites International Series grid, also driving for the Olsbergs MSE team.
Just like her older sibling, Jessica has constantly been grabbing her fair share of the spotlight in recent years, going undefeated to the Swedish Karting Championship Junior 125cc class title in 2012, finishing for two years in a row (2014 and 2015) as the highest-placed female in the KF2 World Championship, as well as achieving impressive results in the International Winter Cup and International Open, too.
“A lot of drivers go from karting to circuit racing, but that has never been of interest to me,” Bäckman explained. “Our uncle competed in rallycross for many years and we followed him around from a young age, so I guess this was always going to happen. It must be in the blood!
“Andreas and I have never raced against each other much – we’ve always tried to avoid direct competition in karting – so this year will certainly be something new in that respect. We have a very good relationship so of course we will work together to try to help each other to progress, but at the end of the day, I want to beat him and he wants to beat me.
“Every track will be new to me this year and I have plenty to learn, but my goal will be to improve over the course of the season and hopefully reach the podium. I can’t wait to get going!”
So far, the Bäckman siblings are only the fourth and fifth drivers to announce their commitment to the seven rounds (Mettet, Lydden Hill, Hell, Höljes, Trois-Rivières, Lohéac, Cape Town) of the series: their rivals will include reigning champion Cyril Raymond, up-and-coming Swedish star William Nilsson and American hotshot Tanner Whitten.
The RX2 series will kick off on 12-14 May in Mettet, Belgium.
