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Bakkerud evaluating Euro RX5 entry for ‘junior driver’
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His own competitive career may still be in full swing – as evidenced by his eagerly-anticipated return to the FIA European Rallycross Championship this year – but Andreas Bakkerud clearly also has one eye on nurturing the next generation after hinting at running a car in the newly-created Euro RX5 entry-level category as well.
Five years on from his last full campaign in Euro RX1 – a season that yielded his third European Championship trophy – Bakkerud will rejoin the grid in 2026 in a quest to clinch a fourth career crown, as a prelude to a World Championship title tilt two years later.
Having burst onto the international rallycross scene as a fresh-faced youngster back in 2009, the Norwegian recently joked that ‘I keep telling everyone I’m 31 or 32, but I’m actually 35 this year’ – and while the desire to further enhance his own racing CV still palpably burns bright, he is simultaneously giving some serious thought to the longer-term and what comes next.
“We’re already looking at expanding from this season,” Bakkerud told the new Talking Loose podcast series when asked about plans for Bergen Motorsport Evolution, the team that he founded just over 12 months ago and with which he contested the Norwegian Rallycross Championship’s top-tier last year, finishing third in the standings behind the wheel of a self-built, 500bhp Ford Puma.
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“We’re looking into Cross Car categories and junior drivers, and to buy a ‘junior’ car for the Norwegian Rallycross Championship. I can’t launch the driver or the car yet, but we are very close, and we are looking to add that Cross Car driver into this year’s European Rallycross Championship together with SET Promotion [the Jussi Pinomäki-helmed outfit that will support his Euro RX1 assault in 2026].”
Adopting the same technical specification as the FIA European Cross Car Championship, Euro RX5 will offer an accessible route into the sport for younger competitors embarking upon their international careers, while fostering the continued growth of the grassroots discipline throughout Europe.
The forthcoming FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign will get underway in Rīga, Latvia on 9-10 May, prior to travelling to Nyirád in Hungary (30-31 May), Höljes in Sweden (4-5 July), Mondello Park in Ireland (18-19 July), Lohéac in France (29-30 August) and finally Lousada in Portugal for the season finale on 12-13 September.
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