PR: Swedish Rallycrosser Anton Marklund to compete with his VW Polo SuperCar in three 2013 Global X Games events.

Marklund Motorsport driver Anton Marklund has announced that he has formally been invited to drive at this year’s Global X Games events and has confirmed that he will compete in at least three X Games events in his Volkswagen Polo R SuperCar in 2013. For many athletes, reaching the ESPN X Games is a dream and something that takes many years of preparation and a lot of luck to make a reality. For 20-year-old Anton Marklund this dream is about to become a reality.

Marklund will bring his No. 92 Volkswagen Polo R Supercar to three of the Summer Global X Games events which include Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, on April 21, Barcelona, Spain, on May 19 and finally Munich, Germany, on June 30. These three races will mark the first three Global RallyCross Championship starts for the youngest ever driver in the series.

The 2012 European Rallycross Champion (TC) had the following to say: “I think we have a good chance to be on the podium, absolutely,” he says. “I think all the guys who will be competing at X Games are seriously good, and it will be hard to beat all of them. But to race against people like Tanner Foust, Travis Pastrana, and Ken Block, it’s fantastic and a dream for me. “I would really love to beat them, because they’re world stars.”

Unlike some of his competitors, Marklund has already had some race experience with his new ride, running selected, high-profile events in both Austria and Belgium. The results so far have exceeded expectations. “We did our first test with the car in October last year in Austria, I did 40 laps of testing and then I drove in the Race of Austrian Champions,” adds Marklund. “And I was Austrian champion! I beat the four-time Austrian champion with the best time ever on that track, so it went surprisingly well.

Team owner Jan Marklund had the following to say about the upcoming season: “We now have two fully developed Volkswagen Polo R SuperCar’s ready and complete with spares for 2013. This gives us a solid ground to support Anton throughout this season and with a magnificent team supporting us with people from Gunnarsson Motorsport and Trollspeed we are 100% ready all really looking forward to this Rallycross season!”

Marklund understands that he’s still improving as a driver, and those improvements are what ensure his greatest successes are still ahead of him. “I’m 20 years old, so I have a lot to learn on my own,” he admits. “Those SuperCars are sick! They’re so fast but I wouldn’t go to Brazil if I was thinking that I would be the last person to cross the finish line. I’m aiming for the podium, and hopefully we can reach there. We are really aiming to be the champion in Europe, and hopefully we can go worldwide and be champions there also. Bring on the X Games!”

Anton is managed by Ian Bergin, Director of Motorsports at The KINC who was a pivotal part in making this X Games opportunity a reality added: “2013 is set up to be an exciting year ahead for Anton; the opportunity for him to enter the X Games in his VW Polo is absolutely amazing and is something that will really test Anton in terms of being a top level driver. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind as we made his dream a reality to become an X Games competitor and for that I am really pumped for the team and all involved. I look forward to kicking off the season this weekend in the UK at Round 1 of FIA RX and then going down to X Games Brazil to hopefully watch Anton take home an X Games medal!”

Photo: Anton Marklund and his VW Polo Mk5 SuperCar are ready for three Global X Games events. © QBA/ERC24