There’s no denying that Andreas Bakkerud is one of rallycross’ top talents in the modern era. And with a fun-loving reputation and easy-going demeanor, the U.S.-based Nitrocross series is very much a perfect home for the Norwegian.
But things haven’t quite gone his way. Two victories in the 2022-23 season, the first of the category’s all-electric Group E formula, should have been a sign of things to come, but since then things haven’t been plain sailing for the 2021 European Rallycross champion. That was until the series headed to Salt Lake City for the second stop on its 2024-25 schedule.
Well, we say that… his horrific bad luck struck again, with Bakkerud being confined to his hotel room for the first part of the double-header race weekend thanks to an aggressive bout of strep throat.
“I caught strep throat on Thursday and had a 104 degree fever,” he explained on Saturday, when all signs of his illness had, at least visibly, disappeared. “I was shaking my hands, fingers, toes, and butt off; getting penicillin and all that stuff. I tried to do as little running as possible on Friday.”
Fast-forward to the end of the weekend and all talk of sickness was a distant memory. Bakkerud wasn’t just a winner again, but he’d swept both Finals at Utah Motorsports Campus, becoming the first driver in the history of Nitrocross’ top class to ever do so.
“It’s wild. I didn’t see this coming,” he tells RACER. “In Richmond I spoke with the team. The target was to have a little bit more fun, score a top five, (and) just try to enjoy it a little bit.
“But Nitrocross is special. It feels so unfair at times, and it has the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. I’ve done a lot of different motorsports and I don’t get the same feeling anywhere else.”
Bakkerud had pace at the first two rounds of the season in Richmond in September, but contact in both Finals prevented him from scoring any meaningful points. The opposite was the case in Salt Lake City, with Bakkerud starting both mains from second on the grid – positioned on the racing line thus giving the spot more grip than pole position which was held on both days by his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC teammate Robin Larsson.
“It really felt good,” he says. “I would say, without bragging, we have been the quickest car out there this whole weekend. It’s hard to be consistently fast in Group E because these cars are very similar and conditions are changing all the time.”
The two black Monster Energy Dodges ran more like the Blue Angels on both days, flying in perfect formation at the front of the field. The first day was planned, and there was a similar agreement on Sunday with whoever got to Turn 1 in first being afforded the advantage. With Bakkerud having the grippier grid position, he asserted his position right away, even if he admitted the thought of “what’s going to go wrong this time?” entered his mind.
“In the Final there, the plan was whoever got the best start in Turn 1 would get the race,” Bakkerud says of Sunday. “Whoever is second wasn’t going to do anything major. We want to battle it out later on in the season. I had a better jump off the line – I think starting P2 was better, it was quicker there, that’s the racing line, and pole position was dusty and a bit filthy.
“I got the jump, got my gears correct, got the push-to-pass correct, and had a good Turn 1.”
Sunday was “kind of smooth”, as Bakkerud puts it, but after dominating on Saturday, he knew his team had to work harder on that second day of racing to maintain their advantage.
“Everyone caught up on our speed from Saturday, and it was a much tougher day,” he admits. “I had a Semifinal battle with Conner Martell. He wouldn’t leave my door or my bumper, he was right there. He didn’t do anything nasty, he was fair and square. He was quick, and he would have deserved that podium. And I think it would have been very tight with him.”
Martell finished third behind Bakkerud and Larsson on Saturday, only for a penalty for missing the Joker to take the position away. It was set to be a similar story on Sunday until he suffered a huge crash meters from the line as he battled Larsson for second, to which Bakkerud says, “It’s so good to see that he’s okay after that gnarly crash just before the checkered.”
The repeat result over both days suggests DRR JC has an advantage – and with the last two titles and more Group E wins than any other team, including three from four this season, it clearly does, but Bakkerud insists the reality isn’t as clear cut.
“I don’t quite understand it, what we have done this weekend is big,” he says. “It’s not easy to be first and second, by any means.
“By Q3 you have so much track evolution, you have one lap to set the quickest lap time. The level is so high, and then you try to do well in the Heats and Semis. So much stuff is going on and happening, and for us to end up pole and second again is incredible.”
Competition aside, Bakkerud has never lowered his confidence in his abilities. There has been a 568 day gap between his last win at Glen Helen Raceway two seasons ago and Saturday’s breakthrough, but despite getting back to where he belongs, he still wants more.
“Not to be cocky but – and I was the first one in the World Rallycross championship to do a clean sweep – when I’m on the flow, there’s no stopping me,” he insists. “It’s just as simple as that.
“But I didn’t do the full clean sweep, I haven’t won Q3 yet, and I tried, I pushed.”
All that being said, Bakkerud isn’t getting ahead of himself. Next up is Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona in November. The scene of a violent roll for him in 2022, and only one podium finish in his four starts there, he’s keeping his expectations in check despite currently riding the crest of a mammoth wave.
“It’s been forever. It was a really nice feeling to cross the line first, to have a win again, because it’s been so long,” was his reaction after Saturday’s win. “I have just been so pissed off and furious in so many ways, it’s nice to go to bed not in anger, but with happy vibes and feelings.”
But looking ahead, he stresses, “Phoenix has a whole other ballgame. It’s a track I haven’t been very strong at in the past. It’s been very much up and down, so I’m going keep on the mentality I have.
“If I can score a fifth or better, I’m fine. I’m going to try to understand why I had the doubts and try not to be pissed off.”