It’s been a long time since Andreas Bakkerud stood on the top of the podium in Nitrocross. In fact, you have to go back to the final event of the first season of Group E, 2022-23, to find the last time it happened.
After a tricky 2023-24 campaign where he registered just one podium, Bakkerud looked at this season as a chance to reset.
“It is about time,” Bakkerud said. “It’s been tough times and this year was all about getting back and having fun again.
“In Richmond I felt I was on average the fastest both days and the whole weekend, but I didn’t score any points because I was having some bad luck in the finals. Coming in here to Salt Lake, again I tried to restart.”
But while he showed strong pace at the first two rounds of the season in Richmond in September, contact in both finals left him wanting more. And he felt the first final in Utah might go the same way, too. Thankfully, he had teammate Robin Larsson serving as his rear gunner.
“In the final, starting from pole was like ‘what’s going to go wrong this time?’ because every time I’ve been here I’ve been doing good, but I’ve always chosen the wrong lane; all of a sudden the joker is quicker or the normal line is quicker.
“And I was like ‘no matter what I’m going to choose, it’s going to be wrong anyhow.’
“We had the holeshot into turn one and it felt good from there, but then the sun was so low – impossible to see anything in the last few corners. If it wasn’t for Robin today, I wouldn’t have won. Someone would have punted me off, because I couldn’t see the turns.
“But he could see me, so he understood where in the ballpark he could be and placed his car to catch up. Every lap I gapped a little bit and into that twisty section I lost a lot.”
That restart looked to be under threat before the weekend even began, however, with Bakkerud struck down by illness as soon as he touched down in Salt Lake City.
“I caught strep throat on Thursday and had a 104 degree fever,” he explained. “I was shaking my hands, fingers, toes, and butt off; getting Penicillin and all that stuff.
“I tried to do as little running as possible on Friday and today
That only made Saturday’s win even sweeter. Two win after two years is one thing, but to do it on a weekend that started with the very real possibility of him not being able to race at all is another thing.
“It really felt good. I would say, without bragging, we have been the quickest car out there this whole weekend. It’s hard in Group E, it’s hard to be consistently fast because these cars are very similar and conditions are changing all the time, that I’ve never been worse than second in lap times in both groups.
“So I feel like I’ve shown great space throughout the whole day, today and yesterday, even though I was fevering yesterday and felt nothing near good. But this morning I felt a little bit better.
“Feeling good to be standing here with a beautiful trophy. It’s been forever. It was really nice feeling to cross the line in first, to have a win again because it’s been so long.
“I just have been so pissed off and furious in so many ways, it’s nice to go to bed not in anger, but in happy vibes and feelings.”