Bakkerud and Wiman joins Subaru Motorsport for final two ARX rounds.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media. 

Subaru Motorsports USA have announced that Andreas Bakkerud and Joni Wiman will join its lineup for the final two rounds of the Americas Rallycross season in Texas and Ohio.

Bakkerud will venture into the unknown having only raced at the Circuit of the Americas last year in World RX, where he finished on the podium.

The Norweigan is currently only a point behind in the World RX championship and has claimed a win at the Canadian round of World RX Championship in August which marked his seventh career Supercars victory as well as his fifth podium finish this year alone.

Joni Wiman and Andreas Bakkerud going wheel-to-wheel in Belgium
PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Through four rounds of the six-event 2019 ARX season, Subaru has earned three event wins and six total podium finishes, with Speed sitting first in the championship standings and Atkinson and Sandell tied for third. However, after a hard landing at Nitro RX caused a compression fracture in his spine, Speed will be forced to sit out the remainder of the 2019 campaign. 

Atkinson and Sandell will continue the championship fight for the remaining two rounds and will be joined by Bakkerud and Wiman in 600-horsepower Subaru WRX STI rallycross cars.

Finn Joni Wiman has an impressive CV in USA. He dominated the Lites class in the 2013 U.S. rallycross championship and went on to secure the 2014 Supercars title. In his return to Supercars-level rallycross this year at World RX of Belgium, Wiman earned a semifinal win and a third-place finish in the final – sharing the podium with Bakkerud.

"Having to continue the season with Scott watching from the sidelines will be tough," said Bill Stokes, Motorsports Manager for Subaru of America. "He has the team’s full support and we’re all looking forward to welcoming him back next season."

"At the same time, Andreas and Joni are two of the best rallycross drivers in the world – we’re excited to bring them in to compete alongside Chris and Patrik, and put even more top-level rallycross talent in front of U.S. fans."

Written By Junaid Samodien