Andreas Bakkerud led a sweep of the top five positions for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in Round 2 of the Nitro Rallycross in Strangnas, Sweden, giving the organization their second win of the season.
When the green light showed “Send It”, Bakkerud did. He took control of the round early by getting the holeshot in his heat to easily outpace Kris Meeke. He grabbed the lead early in the main as well, but was unable to shake the Round 1 winner, Robin Larsson in the opening laps.
Ultimately winning by nearly two seconds, Bakkerud led every lap and made it look effortless.
The task was not as easy for the second- and third-place drivers. Larsson had mechanical problems in his heat and pulled over early. That forced him into the first semifinal and a win there put him into the main.
Larsson hounded Bakkerud for the first three laps, but on the tight course, he was not able to get a nose inside the leader. Looking for some clean air, Larsson decided to hit the Joker Lane on Lap 4 of the six-lap final, but he was a little too wide on entry and lost more than a second. Larsson held on to finish second, nearly two seconds behind the leader.
Johan Kristoffersson crossed the finish line first in his heat, but incurred a three-second penalty for hitting a course marker, which handed the win to Oliver Eriksson. Driving from the back of the grid in the main, he rounded out the podium after advancing through the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).
Fraser McConnell in fourth and Ole-Christian Veiby rounded out the top five.
It was a disappointing round for Travis Pastrana. He also experienced problems in his heat and failed to finish. Nitro Rallycross takes two drivers from the LCQ and Pastrana was a distant third for the first two laps. A masterful trip through the Joker Lane allowed him to close the gap, but he was nipped by about a tenth of a second at the checkers by Conner Martel, who went on to finish sixth in the eight-car final.
A scheduled round in Finland has been removed from the calendar, so the next time Nitro Rallycross will be in action is October 1 in Minneapolis, Minn.