Two-time FIA World Rallycross Championship event winner Andreas Bakkerud will race the Jelf Insurance-backed RX150 buggy at the final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship in association with the Shannon Group and the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix at Croft Circuit in Yorkshire next week [October 10 – 11].

The Norwegian star will follow in the footsteps of OlsbergsMSE World RX team mate Reinis Nitiss, who raced an RX150 at the previous round at Lydden Hill where the Latvian finished second to double RX150 champion Marc Scott.

“Ollie [O’Donovan] and I were chatting at World RX in Barcelona recently. I looked at my schedule and Croft was a free weekend. I love racing, especially in rallycross. I’ve played on the Croft track on Colin McRae Rally a lot of times and it looks like fun,” said Bakkerud, who will take a break out of his World RX programme between the Turkish and Italian rounds of the championship to race at Croft. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I did one test in something similar in Norway, and I drove another buggy on ice in winter for a couple of laps. That’s all. But, it’s just like riding a bike. You learn to ride a bike once and you have it forever. It’s the same thing with cars, whether it’s a Supercar or a buggy.”

Bakkerud is cautious about predicting a result for his first RX150 appearance. “Reinis finished second at Lydden but it was raining, so maybe it was easier then to get to the front pace. I just need to see in practice how my pace is, but I’m going into the racing without any big expectations. I want to have fun. The World Championship is such a big focus that it is nice to sometimes race without any pressure, whatever the level. But, I know myself that as soon as I put the helmet on that I will want to win. I’m doing two days, so the second day I should have more experience. I want to say a big thanks to Ollie for giving me this opportunity; I’m really looking forward to a fun weekend.”

RX150 championship coordinator Ollie O’Donovan is pleased to welcome Bakkerud to the RX Racing team. “It’s great that we can finish the season with another World Championship star in an RX150. Andreas’ talent is obvious and it will be interesting to see how he gets on against the regular guys. I think on Sunday, with a bit of experience under his belt, he will be able to challenge for the podium.”

RX150 Championship Standings after 7 of 8 rounds:

1 – Chrissy Palmer 233

2 – Marc Scott 231

3 – Stephen Jones 188

4 – Mitchell Flaherty 106

5 – Larry Sargent 94

6 – Richard Moore 93

7 – Kevin Feeney 80

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