RallycrossRX Norway: Preview

Cut into a hillside, the Lankebanan at Hell is among the faster tracks in the championship, and certainly a quick one among Nordic venues. Reigning Super1600 champion Andreas Bakkerud is racing at home this weekend for the first time since graduating to the Supercar category, and is keen to get going on a track he knows well;

“After the start, it’s a really long run to the first corner,” says Bakkerud. “The first corner is very important, you can brake late but not so late that you lose the exit. If you get the line wrong it’s hard work into turn two. The next corner is a tarmac left hander with very high kerbs, it would be very easy to roll the car here. You need to have an absolutely perfect line into the next corner on gravel, and into the hairpin right, where you brake on tarmac before going onto loose. This is probably the most important corner on the circuit, as it leads onto a long gravel straight and you need to carry momentum. At the end of the straight to next corner is tricky, because you can’t see the apex or the exit, which is then into the right before the start finish straight. Again it’s very important to get a good exit from the last corner.”

“The circuit here is all about carrying momentum. The track is full of ups’s and downs, different to the other circuits we have been to so far this season. Hopefully I can get a good result, racing at home will give me a real boost!”

The best viewing opportunities at Lankebanan come from the areas at either end of the starting straight where, from vantage points that rise above the racetrack, almost all of the circuit is visible.

There are points all round the first and second corners, a sequence that includes the turn one joker lap and the first loose-surface section. The last corner is in full view of perhaps the most favoured spectator area on the hillside behind the startline. Sitting here there is also a good view over the paddock and pre-grid as well as the start and most of the track.

No more than a taxi ride from Trondheim airport, the track is rural, but within easy reach of the historic city of Trondheim via the airport rail service for those seeking out either a bit of culture, or a night out in one of Norway’s biggest university cities. It’s worth trip just to say you’ve “been to Hell and back”!

RallycrossRX: Round 5

he fifth round of the RallycrossRX championship also features another strong entry. A host of locals join the permanents and regulars in the Supercar category. Henning Solberg returns to the championship to take again take on his younger brother Petter, while former rallycross and more recently circuit racing star Tommy Rustad makes his first Supercar start for a couple of years, starting in his first of two events at the wheel of the ex-Hunsbedt Volvo C30. Another Norwegian in a C30 this weekend is Danial Holten, who drove in Norway and Sweden last season in the Frode Holte owned car, and will do again this time. The former Super1600 driver is currently racing in the Norwegian national championship, but has fulltime Supercar aspirations.

The paddock will also welcome back popular driver Morten Bermingrud, who starts in his home event, the first of the year, while Tord Linnerud makes his first Euro start at the wheel of Mats Lysen’s second Renault Clio Supercar.

Robert Aamodt and Malin Gjerstad are the Norwegian drivers in the Super1600 category. TouringCar will be a seriously competitive affair this weekend; heading the list of Norwegian drivers are 2011 TouingCar champion Lars Oivind Enerberg and Opel Corsa driver Ole Habjorg.

[portfolio_slideshow]