Christian Bakkerud (3 November 1984 – 11 September 2011) was a Danish racing driver, who competed in the 2007 and 2008GP2 Series seasons, albeit hindered by a recurrent back injury. Prior to GP2 he competed in British Formula 3 and Formula BMW.
Bakkerud competed in Formula BMW from 2002 to 2004, joining the British version of the series in the latter year after two seasons in Germany.
Formula Three
Bakkerud competed in British Formula 3 in 2005 and 2006. Having finished seventh in the championship in 2005, he improved to sixth place in 2006, and also scored his first series win for Carlin at Mugello in 2006 - arguably his career highlight. During this time he also competed in the Macau Grand Prix and the Ultimate Masters of Formula Three race.
Bakkerud took part in the 2007 GP2 Series season for the DPR team,[1] paired with SpaniardAndy Soucek. The season was disappointing, as Bakkerud failed to score any points. He also suffered back injuries, trapping nerves whilst racing on two separate occasions.[2]
He moved to the Super Nova team for the 2008 GP2 Asia Series, reinforcing his unlucky reputation by retiring from all but three of the races.[3] He remained for the 2008 GP2 Series proper, he suffered a recurrence of his back injury after a collision with Ben Hanley in the first race.[4] He was replaced by Soucek whilst he recovered,[5] and made his return to the cockpit at Monaco, after missing the championship round at Istanbul. He crashed at the start of the sprint race at Monaco, briefly going airborne after hitting Kamui Kobayashi. He did not suffer a recurrence of his back injury despite a heavy landing.[6] However, the injury flared up once more following a testing session, and he withdrew from the rest of the season on medical grounds. He was replaced by Soucek.[7]
Bakkerud retired from driving following the 2010 Le Mans race. In the year prior to his death, he worked as an import manager at a shipping company.[8]
Death
On 10 September 2011, Bakkerud was involved in a car crash at the Tibbet's Corner roundabout at Putney Heath, near Wimbledon Common. He died a day later, in St George's Hospital, from his injuries. He was driving an Audi RS6 at the time of the accident; a police investigation followed.[8][9] Travelling south on the A219 on Tibbet's Ride from Putney Hill, the car appeared to fail to negotiate a left turn into the large roundabout itself and instead travelled onwards and hit a thick, 1.5-metre (4.9 ft) high concrete barrier on the inside of the dual lane roundabout. The car then flipped over the barrier, fell down a steep 3-metre (9.8 ft) grass incline before smashing through the steel fence separating the bridleway and pedestrian/cyclist underpass routes. Crash investigators used yellow spray paint to mark skid and impact points on the road and where the car flipped over the barrier. The straight skid marks showed his car crossed from nearside to inside lane, as the road veered left at the roundabout entry, before it made a glancing blow on a heavy steel crash barrier prior to the barrier impact some six metres later.[citation needed]
Within a week a large number of flower bouquets were left at the location where the car came to rest. Police had also erected a yellow sign appealing for witnesses, which stated the accident occurred at about 6am on 10 September.
Formula One team HRT, led by Colin Kolles, added a tribute to Bakkerud to the livery of their cars during the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix weekend.[10]McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton also paid tribute to Bakkerud by wearing a helmet featuring his initials.
Racing record
Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
^"Hamilton leads shortened first session". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 23 September 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011. The cars bore messages to the late Christian Bakkerud, the Danish GP2 and F3 driver who died of brain injuries recently following a car accident in the UK.
