“Lohéac is one of the biggest events of the year on the race calendar with sheer rallycross action galore,” says Andreas Bakkerud. “Whenever so many fans turn out at the track this gives me an additional motivation boost.” The eyes of his teammate, Mattias Ekström, start shining as well when he talks about the popular event in Brittany: “Traveling to Lohéac is a great honor every time,” says the 2016 World Champion. “The many enthusiastic spectators there make us drivers feel like rock stars.”
Ekström, on clinching third place last year, achieved his first podium finish on the track with a length of about one kilometer of which only 33 percent are tarmac. The section the Swede enjoys most is Turn 5 – a fast, long right-hander that runs parallel to the Joker Lap. “There, you drift in third or fourth gear, constantly keeping the car’s nose very close to the wall,” says the Audi driver. “Very special as well is the Joker Lap itself with a jump when you enter the corner.” Bakkerud in 2013 won a round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Lohéac. In 2016, he finished the World RX round in France runner-up. “I’ve always done well on this track,” says the Norwegian. “Following my misfortune in Canada, I definitely want to be back on podium.”
EKS Audi Sport tested at Lohéac in early March. It was the first public appearance of the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro that had undergone many detailed improvements for the 2018 season and in which Bakkerud and Ekström have clinched four podium finishes to date. At Lohéac this year, EKS Audi Sport is also fielding an additional Audi S1 EKS RX quattro for the first time – for the Hungarian Szabó Krisztián in the FIA European Rallycross Championship (EuroRX).
SPORT 1 will air live coverage of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX)at Lohéac on Sunday (September 2) from 2 to 4 PM (CEST), both online at www.sport1.de and on television on SPORT1+. Starting at 11 PM, SPORT1 will also provide a summary on its main channel.