Sondre Evjen from Norway will make his debut in the FIA World Rallycross Championship as he sits in for Gustav Bergström due to other commitments in the third Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS World RX run Volkswagen Polo RX1e all-electric Supercar in Lydden Hill, United Kingdom on 22/23 July.
The 25-year-old Norwegian will return to the world championship title-winning team for the first time since the pandemic. He used to race for Kristoffersson Motorsport for two seasons in 2019-2020 in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in a Volkswagen Polo but he only had the chance to shine in 2019 when the 2020 got cut short due to COVID-19.
Evjen only managed to claim one podium while he was driving for them in Euro RX and that was in Höljes, Sweden 2020 where he clinched the second place. After his time at KMS, he went over to JC Raceteknik for the 2021 RallyX Nordic series season where he ended third overall. He continued for JC in 2022 with a part-time program in Euro RX and another full-time campaign in RallyX. He took his maiden Supercar win in Euro RX in Latvia last season and rounded up his last season in an Audi S1 EKS Quattro with yet another third place overall in RallyX.
Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool
“It’s going to be really fun, I have long wanted to drive one of the electric cars in World RX. I’m really looking forward to it, although I’m of course also a bit nervous. I can’t set my hopes too high for my first time, but I want to get a feel for the car and try to find the flow.” Evjen said.
“I have spoken to Johan a bit and he says it’s a very fun car to drive. When I competed for KMS in the European Championship, I ran with a similar set-up to him so let’s hope it works that way with the electric car as well! He and Ole Christian will certainly be getting a few questions from me this weekend…”
Team principal Tommy Kristoffersson added; “We discussed before the season whether we could do something together in Euro RX, but we couldn’t make it happen, now that Gustav has another assignment, Sondre was the first person I thought of.”
“I saw the potential when he was with us before, even if there were also things he needed to learn. Now he has gone to school with Joel [Christoffersson] at JC Raceteknik and matured as a driver. He is good at reading situations on-track and positioning himself in the right place, which means he rarely gets into trouble. You never know what will happen next. I see Sondre as an extra resource and a possible reserve with us, and I want to give him the opportunity to show what he can do.”