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October 10, 1991
One of the best-known, most successful and most popular figures in rallycross. Andreas Bakkerud is a three-time European Champion and for many years was among the front-runners of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. In 2019 he came agonisingly close to winning the WRX title, finishing level on points with Timmy Hansen, but Hansen’s four victories secured the crown while Bakkerud had to settle for second. As consolation, he won the FIA European Rallycross Championship’s premier Euro RX1 category in 2021. This was already his third European title, having also triumphed in the then-Super1600 category (now Euro RX3) in 2011 and 2012. Another remarkable achievement: Bakkerud became the first driver to win every qualifying heat, semi-final and final during a World RX weekend. In 2023 he competed at Nyirád with one of Kárai Tamás’s cars, and the crowd cheered for the Norwegian — nicknamed “Bandika” within the Hungarian team — almost as passionately as for the local drivers. He repaid the support with a sixth-place finish in the final and by signing hundreds of autographs.
