After his first two races in last year’s RallyX championship, Sebastian Isaksætre has decided to step up a gear with a full programme in the Junior CrossCar category.
At just 12 years of age and after four seasons in the Norwegian championship, Sebastian Isaksætre is preparing to take the plunge and challenge the best juniors on the European continent.
With five podium finishes in his last two campaigns in his home championship, the nephew of Euro RX3 runner-up Espen Isaksætre is determined to continue the family tradition of the team from Flisa in Norway.
“My father and uncle Espen have been involved in motorsport for a long time. In fact, I went to my first race just a few weeks after I was born. After that, I always followed my uncle’s team and travelled everywhere when they competed in the European Rallycross Championship,” says Sebastian.
Immersed in the rallycross atmosphere from an early age, the 12-year-old Norwegian didn’t have to wait long before getting behind the wheel himself.
“I took my first steps in motorsport when I was seven years old. I started in the CrossCar Mini class, where I raced for two years, before moving up to the 85cc class in the Norwegian Championship, where I competed for another two seasons. Then last summer we decided to buy a CrossCar for the junior category. With this machine I’ll be competing in the entire RallyX championship this year, as well as in the Norwegian championship.”
For Sebastian, this RallyX programme is clearly a way to take his development to the next level.
“RallyX was the obvious choice as the best drivers compete in this junior category. It will allow me to learn as much as possible by competing against the best in my age group. And I can’t deny that the tracks on the calendar are very attractive. It promises to be a real challenge.
While the Norwegian has used the off-season to fine-tune his preparation, Sebastian has set himself reasonable targets for this first campaign in the RallyX championship.
“Between biathlon and handball, I’ve been careful to prepare myself physically for this new season. We all know how important it is to be in good physical condition if you want to maintain maximum concentration during a race weekend. And then, on a more practical level, we’ve also taken advantage of the last few months to overhaul all our mechanical equipment, while at the same time making some new improvements to my Speedcar chassis.”
“From a sporting point of view, I just want to keep learning and improving. At the very least, I’d like to qualify for my first final. I know there are a lot of things I need to work on if I’m going to achieve that. I still need to increase my pace in the race, because the pace to be adopted in RallyX is much higher than what I’m used to in the Norwegian championship, while I need to make sure that I work on my speed by finding the final details that can help me unlock all the potential my machine has to offer.”
