Today it has been revealed that Rallycross returnee Tommy Rustad is set to drive the ex-Ludvig Hunsbedt Volvo C30/4 SuperCar in the European RX rounds of his native Norway as well as in Sweden.
In early February ERC24 was able to publish the news that Norway’s SuperNational star of the late 1980s and early 1990s Tommy Rustad has pulled the plug on Touring Car racing and had announced the return to his native Rallycross scene (find story here). The first outing with his Volvo S40 Mk1, in late April at the Gardermoen Motorpark, did not turn out too well, Rustad made it to ninth place in the SuperNational +2000cc class only. However, NRC’s Round 2 was last weekend at the Vikedal Motorbane and resulted in a fine second place for the Volvo driver, he was only beaten by make-colleague Ørjan Lutsi in another S40. Now, just two days later news was spread by his ASN Norges Bilsportforbund (NBF) that Tommy is set to participate in two of this year’s nine FIA European Rallycross Championship rounds, at Hell on June 15/16 as well as Höljes on July 6/7.
The car Tommy Rustad has been offered to drive by Nyborg Motorsport Service and main sponsor Helgesen Tekniske Bygg AS (Htb) is the Volvo C30/4 SuperCar that was used by Ludvig Hunsbedt in the 2011 ERC. “For many years we had the desire to let Tommy drive our car in Rallycross, and we have been in dialogue many times, but it did never fit into his programme so far. Now that Tommy runs Rallycross at home in Norway again and none of the NRC rounds clash with the RallycrossRX schedule it is what one can call perfect timing,” says Jørn Frode “Joffe” Larsen who runs Nyborg Motorsport Service in Bergen.
“It will be very exciting to drive with a SuperCar in the European Rallycross Championship again. I am both grateful and humbled for this opportunity that Nyborg Motorsport Service and Htb have offered me. Last time I drove such a SuperCar was in the Norwegian ERC round at Momarken in 2007 [Rustad drove the spare Citroën Xsara of his friend Morten Bermingrud to second place]. In 2006 I claimed third place overall in the European series. I’m really looking forward to race such a powerful type of vehicle again”, says Rustad.
Apropos: It will be for the first time since 1993 that Tommy Rustad and the two brothers Henning and Petter Solberg meet as competitors. By then it was at the Lyngås Motorbane near Drammen where they all participated in the ‘SuperNasjonal’ category and made it to the A final. Rustad (Volvo 240) claimed victory, Petter Solberg (Ford Escort Mk2) bagged third place, while Henning Solberg (Volvo 340) retired to finish sixth.
