Andreas Bakkerud

The Norwegian rallycross driver Andreas Bakkerud is one of the regular contestants in the FIA World Rallycross Championship since the inaugural season in 2014.

Before entering World RX competition, Bakkerud was competing in the S1600 class of the European Rallycross Championship, winning two consecutive titles in 2011 and 2012. During six seasons in the World RX competition, Bakkerud won seven events, driving Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus or Audi S1.

Andreas Bakkerud

Rallycross driver since the age 15

Andreas Bakkerud was born on October 10, 1991, in Bergen, Norway. He started his racing career with go-karts, switching to rallycross at the age 15. He finished as the runner-up in the 2009 Norwegian Championship in 2009 and then made a move to the European Rallycross Championship in the Super 1600 category, in which he had three participations during 2009, driving the Peugeot 206 for Set Promotion team and reaching the podium in Poland.

2010 Norway's Young Driver of the Year

In his first full ERX season, Andreas had an impressive debut and finished third in the points after nine races. He scored two podiums in Portugal and Poland, before finishing the year with maiden victory in the season-closing event at Sosnova (Czech Republic), driving the Renault Clio. He was awarded as Norway's 2010 Young Driver of the Year.

2012 European champion with Renault Twingo

Two consecutive European rallycross titles in 2011 and 2012

In the next two seasons, Bakkerud was the dominant driver in the S1600 class of the European Rallycross Championship, winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, he was driving Set Promotion's Renault Clio and won four out of ten events. In 2012, the team switched to Renault Twingo and Andreas continued with his victories. With three wins and four podiums, he was again the champion.

The next step in a career was a purchase of the Supercar, the brand new Citroen DS3. The start of the season with the new car was tough, but in the second part of the 2013 ERX season, Andreas won two races (Sweden and France), added the podium in Germany, and finished fourth in the championship standings.

Bakkerud has five World RX wins

World's championship title with Olsbergs MSE

In 2014, the inaugural FIA World Rallycross Championship was held. Andres was hired by Swedish team Olsbergs MSE to drive #13 Ford Fiesta, alongside Reinis Nitiss in the #15 car. Olsbergs MSE took the World Championship title, with Nitiss in the third place and Bakkerud in the fifth place of the drivers' standings. Andreas has won two races, at British Lydden Hill and Turkish Istanbul Park.

The winning duo remained with the team in 2015 World RX season, but this time, the other Swedish team (Peugeot-Hansen) took the title. In the drivers' classification, Bakkerud progressed for one position and finished fourth in the points. He won the Italian round at Franciacorta International Circuit.

Andreas Bakkerud and Ken Block - teammates in 2016

Andreas Bakkerud joined Hoonigan Racing Division in 2016

For 2016 season, Andreas was invited to join Ken Block in his Hoonigan Racing Division team and to drive a brand new 600-hp Ford Focus RS RX Supercar. After entering the final run but missing the podiums at Portuguese and British rounds, Andreas shined in the fifth round of the championship, at Norway's Lankebanen circuit in Hell.

Impressive performance with six wins at Hell

Bakkerud's fourth WRX victory was pretty impressive after an outstanding performance during the weekend, as he became the first driver to win all six runs in one event (four qualifying heats, semi-final and the final). Three weeks later, Bakkerud scored his fifth WRX victory at Sweden's Höljes Motorstadion. His sixth victory was at season's finale in Argentina and he finished third in the points.

In the 2017 World RX season, Bakkerud scored no wins in the #13 Ford Focus. He was on a podium four times during a season, ending a year sixth in the points.

Andreas Bakkerud moved to EKS Audi Sport for the 2018 World RX season

Two seasons in an Audi S1

Hoonigan Racing Division left World RX in 2018 but Bakkerud easily found a new team. He joined Mattias Ekstrom in his private team supported by Audi Sport. His new race car was the #13 Audi S1 EKS RX quattro.

The season was marked by a domination of Johan Kristoffersson, who won eleven out of twelve rounds. Bakkerud and his team boss Mattias Ekstrom fought for the second place in the championship until the last round. In the end, Ekstrom finished second in the championship, Bakkerud was third.

In 2019, Ekstrom's team left the championship but Andreas stayed in an Audi S1, driving for Monster Energy RX Cartel team. He scored his seventh World RX victory in the seventh round in Canada. He was in the fight for the championship title until the very end. In a dramatic and controversial finale in South Africa, he had an incident with main rival Timmy Hansen. They finished tied in the points but Hansen took the title with more wins on his account.

Photos: andreasbakkerud.no, rallycrossworld.com,