Sivert Svardal suffered the worst possible start to his 2023 FIA European Rallycross Championship campaign when he came unsighted across a broadside Anton Marklund on the exit of Turn One at Nyirád, with the resultant damage effectively ending his weekend. What made it worse was that he had just gone second-quickest in the previous heat – but his day would come.
In round two at Montalegre, the 23-year-old achieved his maiden fastest heat time in Euro RX1, but again, Lady Luck was not on his side as myriad mechanical issues culminated in an early bath. And then on home soil in Hell, Svardal enjoyed his day of days – even if that had looked unlikely in the extreme during the heats.
After hauling his privately-run Volkswagen Polo into the final, the giant-killing Norwegian read the developing situation to perfection when the lights turned green to navigate his way through the Turn One chaos into the lead. Despite subsequently coming under intense pressure from defending champion Anton Marklund, Svardal held on to the chequered flag to record a hugely popular breakthrough victory by the margin of a mere 0.065s.
There were further standout performances at Höljes – where the Konsmo native unleashed Andreas Bakkerud and Robin Larsson-challenging pace – and Mettet, where he secured a superb third position in the intermediate ranking. His early-season misfortune might have meant he finished ‘only’ seventh in the championship table – a three-place drop on the previous year – but make no mistake. This was by some margin Sivert Svardal’s finest campaign to-date.
2023
Stats
Euro
RX Starts:
6
Wins:
1
Podiums:
1
Finals
Reached:
3
Best
Result: 1st
Points:
51
Championship
Position: 7th
Finland
Italy
Hungary