Gronholm, Eriksson join Olsbergs for Rallycross season

Alongside the all-new driver line-up, Marcus Gronholm himself will join the Olsbergs squad as general manager.

Eriksson won the RX Lites Cup World support championship in 2014. As his prize, he raced at the final round of World RX that year in Argentina for the OMSE team and finished on the podium.

Last year, the Swede raced a Supercar in the Sweden-based RallyX Nordic series, taking the title.

The 19-year-old Gronholm Jr won the Finnish Rallycross Championship last season in an ex-OMSE Ford Fiesta Supercar, and also raced at the Swedish round of World RX in Holjes, where he finished 17th overall.

Both drivers will also compete in their respective national championships this season to accumulate additional seat time.

“We will focus this year on building the next generation of champions and ensure our drivers get the seat time and experience that they need,” said new general manager Marcus.

“Both Kevin and Niclas have raced in different series with great success but now it’s the real thing, the final stage of the level required to be the best.

"With my old WRC rivals Sebastian Loeb and Petter Solberg now fighting in rallycross, I must admit that there are times when I’m tempted to get back behind the wheel!

"But the future of the sport depends on what we create today, it’s time for new champions to be born."

The OMSE squad ran Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud and Latvian Reinis Nitiss for the first two seasons of World RX.

For 2016, Bakkerud has joined Ken Block in the new Hoonigan Racing Division team, while Nitiss will drive a Seat Ibiza for All-Ink.com Munnich Motorsport.

OMSE owner and team principal, Andreas Eriksson, says he is building for the future with his young squad.

“Marcus, myself and Jussi [Pinomaki] discussed how best to continue a successful build-up of young drivers," he said.

"We are all clear that we want to create the next generation of champions, which have been born, raised and developed in the sport.

“Our main focus in 2016 is not for a title but we will do our best to make sure we have the right material and preparations to do well and we have a long-term plan. We will work together to grow this team in the coming years.”