Andersson joins Ekstrom's World Rallycross team

Double Junior World Rally champion PG Andersson will replace current JWRC title holder Pontus Tidemand in the EKS World Rallycross team for next week's Istanbul Park event.

Tidemand, who has reached the final on three occasions this year with DTM star Mattias Ekstrom's Audi team, will now prioritise rallying again, contesting this weekend's Rally of France with a WRC2 class Ford Fiesta R5.

Andersson made his first start of the World RX season driving a Hedstroms Motorsport Skoda Fabia in Germany two weeks ago. He just missed out on a place in the semi-finals, qualifying 13th.

The Swede will race the EKS Audi S1 for the first time at former Turkish Grand Prix Formula 1 venue Istabul Park, alongside compatriot Edward Sandstrom, who has made three appearances for the squad this year but has yet to reach a final.

A statement from the EKS team said: "We believe that P-G Andersson's experience and knowledge will help us collect valuable data for the future. Our target is clear: to become world champions in 2015."

Ekstrom's squad is yet to officially announce its full 2015 plans. Double DTM champion Ekstrom has dovetailed World RX outings for his team with his main program in the touring car series this year, and won his home World RX round at Holjes in July.

Originally on Autosport.com