Andreas Bakkerud was the only driver in the FIA World Rallycross Championship to have the honour of taking the very first clean sweep back at the 2016 World RX of Norway.
However the 2018 edition was a little more difficult for the local hero. After the first two Qualifying sessions in Saturday, the EKS Audi Sport driver was in seventh place in the overnight standings.
Bakkerud fought hard on home turf to take another podium but fell short. Credit: Fro Hagena / Audi Sport
With PSRX Volkswagen Sweden dominating the event through Johan Kristoffersson and Team Peugeot Total upping the pace in each round of Qualifying, Bakkerud was fully aware that he had a tough job on his hands.
“My home round at Hell was really tough, it was very close at the sharp end of the field,” explained Bakkerud.
“On day one, I didn’t keep pace. On Sunday, things got better. In the Semi-Final I started third and managed to get into second place.”
With the competition close in Norway, Bakkerud upped his game on Sunday to get to the Semi-Finals. Credit: Fro Hagena / Audi Sport
After working on car setup, Bakkerud found more pace in the car and would go on to finish in fifth place in Q3, following up that performance in Q4 by going third fastest.
This performance moved the Norwegian up to fifth place overall after the end of Qualifying and put him in Semi-Final One with the two PSRX Volkswagen Sweden drivers of Petter Solberg and Kristoffersson.
Bakkerud is looking forward to the next round of World RX in Sweden. Credit: Fro Hagena / Audi Sport
Bakkerud would split the Volkswagen drivers in the end, however the Supercar Final was a less impressive outing. Contact with Timmy Hansen into the first corner ended the Norwegian driver’s hopes of a podium in the fifth round of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
“In the final, I was simply unfortunate: Timmy Hansen spun in front of me and I had to wait until he had restarted his engine and I came sixth.”
