Klara Andersson

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Klara Andersson
NationalitySweden Swedish
Born (2000-02-29) 29 February 2000 (age 24)
Löberöd, Sweden
Related toMagda Andersson (sister)
FIA World Rallycross Championship career
Debut season2022
Current teamConstruction Equipment Dealer Team
Car number12
Starts10
Wins0
Podiums1
Best finish7th in 2022
Championship titles
2021Swedish Rallycross Championship - SM 2150

Klara Andersson (born 29 February 2000) is a Swedish rallycross driver who currently competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for the CE Dealer Team.[1]

Biography[edit]

A member of the Sweden Junior National Team of Motorsport, Andersson started her career in karting before switching to rallycross in 2018 after a five-year hiatus.[2] She made her way up the national motorsport scene, including a wildcard appearance at the 2019 RallyX Nordic season finale, and finished runner-up in the JSM (Junior) class of the 2020 Swedish Rallycross Championship, driving a BMW 120.[3] The following year she made the step up to the SM (Senior) 2150 class, unexpectedly winning the title in her first season in a field that consisted of more than 50 drivers.[4][5]

After impressing in the FIA RX2e Championship,[6] where she achieved a best finish of 4th at Spa-Francorchamps from two rounds,[7][8] and in the Extreme E rookie test,[9] Andersson was signed by Xite Energy Racing to partner team owner Oliver Bennett for the 2022 Extreme E season.[10][11] However, she contracted COVID-19 shortly before the opening round in Saudi Arabia and was replaced by the championship's female reserve driver Tamara Molinaro.[12] Molinaro was eventually retained by the team, with Andersson taking her place as reserve. The Swede would make her long-awaited Extreme E debut in September at the fourth event of the season, the Copper X-Prix in Chile, standing in for Jutta Kleinschmidt, who injured herself during free practice, at Abt Cupra XE.[13] Together with Dakar Rally legend Nasser Al-Attiyah, Andersson took third place, thus achieving a podium finish on debut.[14] Andersson joined SUN Minimeal Team for the 2024 season as Abt Cupra XE left Extreme E.[15][16]

In May 2022 it was announced that Andersson would join Niclas Grönholm at the Construction Equipment Dealer Team in RX1e, the top class of the 2022 FIA World Rallycross Championship, in what became the first full-season gender equal line-up of the championship.[17] She made history in round 5 of the season in Portugal by becoming the first ever woman to step on a top-flight rallycross podium.[18][19]

She is the younger sister of former FIA European Rallycross Championship event-winner Magda Andersson.[20] Her father Håkan formerly competed in the Swedish Rallycross Championship for Volvo and BMW.[21]

Racing record[edit]

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results[edit]

(key)

RX2e[edit]

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 Pos. Points
2021 Olsbergs MSE OMSE QEV RX2e BAR SWE FRA BEL
4
GER
8
7th 35

RX1e[edit]

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points
2022 Construction Equipment Dealer Team PWR RX1e NOR
4
LAT
8
LAT
7
POR
6
POR
3
BEL
7
BEL
6
ESP
7
ESP
4
GER
6
7th 102
2023 Construction Equipment Dealer Team PWR RX1e POR
5
NOR
4
SWE
9
GBR
C
BLX
C
GER
C
ZAF
7
ZAF
5
CHN
5
CHN
6
7th 71

Complete Extreme E results[edit]

(key)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 Pos. Points
2022 Abt Cupra XE Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES ISL1 ISL2 COP
3
ENE 12th* 15*

* Season still in progress.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm join forces in groundbreaking gender-equal line-up at CE Dealer Team". FIA World Rallycross Championship. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Klara Andersson - RX2e". FIA-RX2e.com. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Tabell Rc SM Hö 1+2 Vä 3+4 A 5 2020 prepp final" (PDF). Svenska Bilsportförbundet (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ Brunsdon, Stephen (26 November 2021). "Sweden's next rallycross talent with big ambitions". DirtFish. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Championship Standings Rallycross SM 2021 mk 210815" (PDF). Svenska Bilsportförbundet (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  6. ^ Lindroos, Pontus (28 September 2021). "Klara Andersson set to become first Female to race in RX2e". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Andersson a step closer to World RX dream after electrifying RX2e bow". FIA-RX2e.com. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Klara Andersson klar för finaltävlingen av Rallycross-VM". Skånesport.se (in Swedish). 12 November 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  9. ^ Kew, Matt (27 October 2021). "Peterhansel leads Extreme E rookie test line-up for Rosberg". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  10. ^ Strebelow, Vivien (12 February 2022). "Rallycross star Klara Andersson to make Extreme E debut". Racers - Behind the Helmet. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  11. ^ "XITE Energy Racing announces new driver line-up for Extreme E". Racer.com. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  12. ^ Nguyen, Justin (18 February 2022). "Tamara Molinaro subbing for Andersson in Desert X Prix". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  13. ^ Nguyen, Justin (24 September 2022). "Klara Andersson to fill in for Kleinschmidt in Copper X Prix". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  14. ^ Turner, Kevin (25 September 2022). "Copper X-Prix: Hamilton's X44 squad takes Extreme E win after McLaren penalty". Autosport. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  15. ^ Wilde, Dominik (29 January 2024). "SUN Minimeal joins Extreme E with Scheider and Andersson". RACER. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  16. ^ "ABT CUPRA to focus entirely on Formula E in 2024". ABT Sportsline. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  17. ^ "CE Dealer Team announces world-first gender equal World RX line-up with Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm". CE Dealer Team. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  18. ^ "'Proud' Andersson reflects on history-making weekend". FIA World Rallycross Championship. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  19. ^ "The World RX rookie that's already made history". DirtFish. 24 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Klara Andersson - World RX". FIA World Rallycross Championship. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  21. ^ "The Team". magdaandersson.se. 16 May 2019.

External links[edit]