Joni-Pekka Rajala Takes Seat in Rallycross Beetle Supercar

“If you want to win hire a Finn” goes the old saying, and that’s just what Eklund Motorsport has done. Finnish driver Joni-Pekka Rajala has been given a seat in an Eklund Motorsport Volkswagen Beetle Supercar.

“It’s really nice to work together with Eklund Motorsport again this season,” says Rajala in a press release posted on the FIA World Rallycross Championship website. “I want to fight for a podium finish in the European Championship with the Volkswagen Beetle.”

Rajala will be racing in the European Rallycross Championship’s (Euro RX) Supercar class. This is the fastest class in Euro RX, featuring 4WD cars with upwards of 550 hp.

Rajala raced with Eklund Motorsport last year in a Saab and finished the Euro RX season in fourth place. The Finn joins Alexander Hvaal, who will drive the team’s other Beetle Supercar.

“I promised [Rajala] that he could use the Beetle this year if he wanted to stay with us,” says Per Eklund, team principle.

Eklund goes on to say that the team has “made some changes to the car and I think with Joni-Pekka and Alexander (Hvaal) we have two very talented drivers in the team this season. We have a lot of work to do before the first round in Belgium but we will be working day and night to make everything ready to test before then.”

Beetles are not an uncommon sight in Rallycross. Tanner Foust and Scott Speed race Beetle Supercars for Volkswagen Andretti Autosport in Red Bull Global Rallycross, which is run in America.

You can watch the car in early tests from 2014 in the video below.

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