Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud set the fastest time in Q2 at the World RX of Norway, round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy, but it’s Championship leader Mattias Ekstrom who is TQ (Top Qualifier) on Saturday in Hell.
Bakkerud made the best start with his Ford Focus RS RX in the last race of the day and immediately took his joker lap, passing Ekstrom, Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson when the others took their jokers to win the race and set the fastest time at his home event, where he claimed an unprecedented ‘clean sweep’ last season.
“I enjoyed Q2 so much, the track changed so much between Q1 and Q2, so I was lucky that I went to the joker in the first lap. I could kind of see where the others were struggling, so that helped me. It felt good, I was catching a bit every lap and when the twoin front took the joker I could take the win,” explained Bakkerud.
MJP Racing Team Austria’s Kevin Eriksson won the first race of Q2 and was fourth at the finish, behind Bakkerud, Ekstrom and Solberg and is currently just outside the semi-final qualifying positions in 14th ahead of Q3 tomorrow morning. Bakkerud’s time in Q2 lifted him to second overall, with Solberg in third, Kristoffersson (who was ninth in Q2 after racing against Solberg) fourth, Sebastien Loeb fifth and Timmy Hansen sixth.
Sweden’s Robin Larsson was fastest in Q2 of Euro RX ahead of Norway’s Thomas Bryntesson and Germany’s Mandie August. After four qualifying heads in RX2 and TouringCar, Championship leaders Cyril Raymond and Lars-Oivind Enerberg are Top Qualifiers at the Intermediate Classifications.