Bakkerud reveals his ‘biggest mission’ in 2026

Having not contested a Euro RX event since midway through 2023, Bakkerud thrilled fans last November by committing to a full season with his Bergen Motorsport Evolution outfit, supported by SET Promotion. He will take to the track behind the wheel of the same Ford Fiesta with which Anton Marklund dominated the Euro RX1 field in 2023, and in which Lukas Andersson finished runner-up at Höljes last summer on his series debut.

To say he is eager to get going would be something of an understatement...

“The calendar is great!” the Norwegian enthused. “Starting off in Rīga is in my eyes the best thing we can do. It’s somewhere that is easy to travel to, with a great crowd and a great rallycross culture!”

The Latvian capital’s historic Biķernieku trase last welcomed the European Championship in 2022, 12 months after Bakkerud found himself squeezed into the tyres at the start of the semi-final there. He did, however, top the intermediate standings in Rīga in the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2019, which he converted into a third-place finish in the final.

“Moving on to round two, the ‘Red Cauldron’ is a proper action-packed track that generates good racing,” the Bergen native continued. “It tends to be important for the championship fights, while Höljes always delivers magic and I hope to see a really big crowd there again like we used to in the old days.” 

The ‘Red Cauldron’, of course, refers to Nyirád Racing Center – so-called due to its distinctive surface composed of asphalt, gravel and red clay – and Bakkerud won there in 2012 en route to his second consecutive Super1600 category crown.

Legendary Swedish circuit Höljes, meanwhile, was the scene of his maiden Euro RX Supercar (now Euro RX1) triumph in 2013, as well as his most recent appearance in the series three years ago. It is a track where he has reached the rostrum no fewer than nine times in international competition, including a famous victory in World RX in 2016. Indeed, throughout the first five years of the World Championship, he was never off the podium at the ‘Magic Weekend’.

And the second half of the 2026 campaign has him equally enthused...

“The fact that Ireland is back is amazing,” commented the fans’ favourite, talking about Mondello Park’s return for the first time since 1996. “I’ve seen so many videos of ‘Mr. Rallycross, Martin Schanche, from that place, and we’re planning on bringing a lot of ‘BakkerudBLUE’ fans there!

“The most joyful for me, though, is to see Lohéac back. It’s not only back, but it’s the circuit’s 50^th anniversary this year. I haven’t won there in a while, so that’s going to be my biggest mission!”

As he alludes, the last time Bakkerud prevailed at the iconic French track was in 2013 – although he was on-course to repeat the feat eight years later until his ESmotorsport-run Škoda Fabia suffered a problem while in the lead of the final with barely a lap to go. He twice scooped the runner-up spoils at Lohéac in World RX.

As for Lousada, which will bring down the curtain on the campaign on 12-13 September, while the 34-year-old has yet to compete there in Euro RX, he drove the ‘benchmark’ car during the 2025 pre-season test at the circuit and has clearly already scoped out the opportunities – on and off-track...

“Lousada has just the right passion for rallycross,” he acknowledged of the Portuguese venue that popularly rejoined the schedule last year. “It will be my first time racing there in a Supercar, but I snuck in a six-hour event with the local squad back in December together with José Oliveira and Tiago Ferreira... 

“...and the rallycross bar in the town square is also a winner!”