Today, 2019 World Rallycross runner-up Andreas Bakkerud has announced his return to the top flight of Rallycross for the 2026 season.

The Norwegian will compete in a Ford Fiesta WRX spec machine previously driven by Anton Marklund and Lukas Anderson. The car will be sponsored by Set Finland, who previously sponsored the CE Dealer team in their World Rallycross campaign.

This announcement comes after the FIA announced that the former World Rallycross championship would return to it’s previous title of the European RallyCross championship in a desperate bid to attract manufacturers and keep costs down. Aswell as that Electric power which had dominated the sport since 2022 has now been abolished meaning that any World Rallycross supercar can now compete In the series.

Bakkerud took a year away from the sport’s premier categories to focus on his privately built Ford Puma Rwd car For the RallyX Nordic series in the open 2wd category. Aswell as that he has also made an appearance for Hansen Motorsport in the Extreme E finale and competed in a Hyundai I20 Rallycross supercar at the Rallycross of Lohéac where he finished P2.

Written By Tony Griffin “Bear”