Andreas Bakkerud joins Jenson Button’s JBXE for Hydro X Prix
Norwegian rallycross star Andreas Bakkerud will race for Jenson Button’s JBXE team at the upcoming Hydro X Prix in Scotland.
Bakkerud will partner Hedda Hosås at the next round of Extreme E Season 3 (13-14 May), completing an all-Norwegian line-up for the outfit, as well as the remainder of the 2023 campaign. The off-road ace replaces Heikki Kovalainen at JBXE, who drove for the team at the season opener in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, in March.
The Hydro X Prix marks Bakkerud’s racing debut in the series, but he is no stranger to Extreme E having signed as a Championship Driver ahead of the Season 3 opener alongside Tamara Molinaro. Bakkerud also previously experienced the ODYSSEY 21 during pre-season testing at Chateau de Lastours, France, in 2020.
Andreas Bakkerud | Career Highlights
The 31-year-old has had a long and successful career as a rallycross driver, with his first titles coming in 2011 and 2012 when he clinched back-to-back Super1600 (now Euro RX3) crowns. The Norwegian went on to win seven times along the way. In 2014, Bakkerud stepped up to the World Championship stage and, two years later, following a switch to Hoonigan Racing Division, achieved three wins resulting in third place in the overall standings.
The Norwegian matched that championship finish in 2018, delivering six podium finishes, before he fought fellow Extreme E star Timmy Hansen for the World Rallycross title in 2019, with the pair’s duel going right the way down to the wire. After colliding in a dramatic finale in Cape Town, they ended up tied on points but Bakkerud was beaten to the championship by Hansen on countback.
Bakkerud returned to Euro RX in 2021 and lifted his third European Championship trophy. He also took on Nitro Rallycross in 2021, securing a podium in his inaugural campaign with third place. Building on this performance in 2022, he achieved three podiums and a maiden victory within the first five races for Group E in the Nitro Rallycross calendar.
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