The Finnish Set Promotion team returns to the podium with Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud scoring third place in Sweden.

The FIA ERC continued in Höljes, Sweden over the past weekend. The Swedish event was one of the busiest of the season for Set Promotion, as the team had six cars racing: three in the Super1600s category and three in the new JRX Cup class.

The best performer was Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud (Renault Twingo Mk2). He finished third in the A final and brought his team back on to the podium after a one-event break. Finn Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme (Renault Clio Mk2) crossed the finishing line in second position, only to be disqualified afterwards by the judges. The victory went to Dane Ulrik Linnemann, who is fighting for the European title with the Set Promotion duo. Russian Timur Shigaboutdinov’s (Renault Clio Mk2) competition ended in the C final.

“Everyone is feeling disappointed. Andreas, of course, still holds his leading position in the standings and made it to the podium, but this did not go at all as it should have. Jussi-Petteri’s disqualification, I thought, was a pretty strange decision. No consistency there. But there is not much you can do about it afterwards,” said team manager Jussi Pinomäki.

Leppihalme was disqualified because the jury thought he caused a collision in the last corner. Leppihalme dropped down to fifth position in the overall standings. Bakkerud is still in the lead. “Now we have a month to breath a bit, before we will be back in August. Everything is still in our own hands,” claims Pinomäki.

The JRX Cup had its first event in Sweden. The category is meant for drivers aged from 14 to 18. The JRX cars have a spaceframe chassis and a 600cc engine. Their appearance has been enhanced by taping. Set Promotion is represented in the JRX category by the two Finns Joni Wilman and Teemu Suninen as well as Russian Marat Knyazev. Unfortunately there were still some technical problems with the cars which hindered the race.

“They are great little cars. The boys like to drive them, as long as they are working. I hope the car provider will sort out the problems soon. There is a lot of potential in this category. This is the best that has happened to Rallycross for a long time. Get rid of the technical issues and we start rocking,” said Pinomäki.

Photo: Andreas Bakkerud flying his Renault Twingo Mk2 to third place in Sweden. © JKR/ERC24