Ulrik Linnemann

 

Ulrik Linnemann made his European Championship debut behind the wheel of a Škoda Fabia in Division 1A in 2008, prior to switching to a Peugeot 207 and claiming his maiden podium in Poland in 2010. He continued to campaign Peugeot machinery for much of the following decade, as he established himself as a leading contender on the international stage.

In the inaugural season of Super1600 in 2011, the Dane wound up second in the final table behind Andreas Bakkerud – the first of seven consecutive top five championship placings, three of them as runner-up.

All-told, Linnemann registered a total of 11 wins in the category, being pipped to title glory by Jānis Baumanis in 2015 and Krisztián Szabó the following year – in the latter case, by the narrow margin of just two points as he only once finished lower than second in six starts.

Stepping up to Supercar (now Euro RX1) level in a Volkswagen Polo in 2018, the Skivum native raced to sixth in the standings amongst the 37 protagonists, advancing to the final twice along the way. He simultaneously made a fairytale debut in RallyX Nordic at his home circuit of Nysum, overcoming a broken gearbox that ruled him out of all three qualifying heats and mastering tricky wet conditions to defeat all the series regulars and seal a hugely popular victory.

Linnemann became the first driver to race Olsbergs MSE’s Honda Civic Coupé in Europe at the end of that season, but 2019 would prove to be a troubled campaign, as a variety of misfortunes conspired to keep him off the RallyX Nordic podium, despite repeatedly securing top three positions in the intermediate classification.

He subsequently switched to his current Linnemann Promotion Ford Fiesta Mk7, going on to make one-off appearances at Nysum in 2020 – reaching the rostrum – and 2021, when he successfully took the fight to multiple world champion Johan Kristoffersson, despite having to contend with a broken damper.

He rejoined the European Championship for a full season of Euro RX1 competition in 2022, tallying a brace of podium finishes on his way to seventh place overall.