Top 10 Drivers of 2022: Anton Marklund (3rd)

Series: Euro RX1
Championship Position: 1^st
Wins: 3
Podium Finishes: 4 (1^st/1^st/1^st/2^nd)

Anton Marklund embarked upon the 2022 FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign chasing a third career crown – and he accomplished that goal in some style.

The signs, arguably, were there before the season even began. In his sole appearance of 2021 on home soil at Höljes, Marklund was dominating the Euro RX1 competition until a spectacular barrel-roll in Q4 curtailed his challenge. Despite switching to a different team and car over the winter in SET Promotion’s Hyundai i20, he was still the driver to beat when the action got underway again at Nyirád in Hungary, where he topped every session.

The Swede made it two-from-two in the second round at Höljes, and if he was somewhat fortuitous in the final in benefitting from a disqualification for on-the-road winner Oliver Solberg, a puncture for Johan Kristoffersson and suspension failure for Andreas Bakkerud, it should be noted that he outperformed all three of his illustrious adversaries in the heats to secure P1 in the intermediate ranking.

A start-line clash with Bakkerud in Hell then restricted Marklund to a frustrated fourth at the chequered flag, before he pushed first-time winner Sondre Evjen all the way in Rīga and survived a heat race coming-together with Jānis Baumanis and a messy start to the final at Montalegre to wrap up the laurels with a round to spare.

Job done, the 30-year-old celebrated in fitting fashion with a commanding performance to tally a third triumph of the season at Spa-Francorchamps. He subsequently made his World RX comeback in ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport’s SEAT Ibiza at the Nürburgring last month – the precursor, perhaps, to a full-time return to the highest level in 2023...