Jessica Bäckman

Jessica Sofia Elizabet Bäckman[1] (born 25 August 1997) is a Swedish racing driver currently competing in the GT4 European Series for racing one. She is the sister of racing driver Andreas Bäckman. Bäckman has previously raced in World Touring Car Cup where she was the first women to achieve World Cup points in the series,[2] and she was recently crowned the Vice Champion title in ADAC TCR Germany.[3]

Career

Bäckman started her motorsport career in kart racing in 2006. She mainly competed in championships in Sweden, including third place in both the North Swedish and National Championships in 2009. In 2012, she competed in international championships for the first time; she was the best placed woman in the world championship and fifth in the European championship. She also became national champion in the Junior class that year. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, she won races in the Belgian championship. In addition, in 2014, she finished second in the Swedish KF2 Championship and eighth in the German KF2 Championship. In 2016, she finished third in the overall Belgian championship and won the Swedish 125 championship.

In 2017, Bäckman made her debut in the FIA World Rallycross Championship and finished fourteenth in the RX2 class of the event in Norway. She also won the Swedish 125 Championship again and was the best woman in the Karting World Championship. In 2018, she moved into track racing with her entry into the TCR UK Touring Car Championship, competing alongside her brother for the WestCoast Racing team in a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. She took a podium place at Brands Hatch and was fourth in the final standings with 300 points. She also drove for WestCoast in five of the six race weekends of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. In this series, she had a more difficult season with a twelfth place on the Falkenbergs Motorbana as the best classification, so that she finished winless in eighteenth in the standings. At the end of the year, she competed in the final weekend of the TCR Europe Touring Car Series at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing the races in 15th and 14th place.[4]

In 2019, Bäckman competed in the full season of TCR Europe with the Target Competition team in a Hyundai i30 N TCR, again as her brother's teammate. She achieved a podium finish at the Hockenheimring and thus became nineteenth in the final standings with 70 points. She also drove in the ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship as a guest driver during the race weekends at Autodrom Most and the Nürburgring. At Most, she only finished thirteenth and one dropout, while she finished seventh and second at the Nürburgring. She also took part in the race weekend at the STCC's Anderstorp Raceway, finishing seventh and third. At the end of the year she competed in the FIA Motorsport Games, finishing seventh in both races in the touring car class for her national team,[5] thus finishing sixth overall.

In 2020, Bäckman achieved her best result in the TCR Europe with seventh place at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, placing her in eighteenth place in the final standings with 60 points. In addition, she again took part in the race weekend at the Nürburgring of the ADAC TCR Germany as a guest driver.[6] This time, she had to retire in the first race, but finished sixth in the second.

In 2021, Bäckman moved to the World Touring Car Cup, in which she will compete alongside her brother for Target Competition in a Hyundai Elantra N TCR.[7] Jessica was the first women to complete a season in the World Touring Car Cup and was also the first women to achieve World Cup points in the series, as she finished 14th in the season opener at Nürburgring Nordschleife[8]

In 2022, Bäckman raced in the ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship with Comtoyou Racing in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR car.[9] She finished the season as Vice Champion in ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship with a total of four wins and nine podiums. This made her the first women to finish top-three in ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship with her four wins.[3]

Racing record

Bäckman competing in the 2023 ADAC GT4 Germany Oschersleben round.

Career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
2018TCR UK Touring Car ChampionshipWestCoast Racing1400013004th
TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship100000018th
TCR Europe Touring Car Series20000037th
2019TCR Europe Touring Car SeriesTarget Competition1400017019th
TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship200012111th
ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car ChampionshipHyundai Team Engstler200000NC†
Target Competition20001
FIA Motorsport Games Touring Car CupTeam Sweden20000156th
2020TCR Europe Touring Car SeriesTarget Competition1200006018th
ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship200000NC†
2021World Touring Car CupTarget srl80000221st
STCC TCR Scandinavia Touring Car ChampionshipBrink Motorsport300012915th
Nürburgring Endurance Series - VT2ROJA Motorsport by ASL Lichtblau20000??*
2022ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car ChampionshipROJA Motorsport by ASL Lichtblau1042363132nd
Comtoyou Racing40003
2023GT4 European Series - Silver Cupracing one500000*NC*
PROsport Racing20000
ADAC GT4 Germany200000NC

As Bäckman was a guest driver, she was ineligible to score points.

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314DCPoints
2018WestCoast RacingVolkswagen Golf GTI TCRLEC1LEC2ZAN1ZAN2SPA1SPA2HUN1HUN2ASS1ASS2MNZ1MNZ2CAT115CAT21437th0
2019Target CompetitionHyundai i30 N TCRHUN19HUN215HOC113HOC23SPA123SPA216RBR1RetRBR223†OSC1RetOSC26CAT116CAT227†MNZ126MNZ21819th70
2020Target CompetitionHyundai i30 N TCRLEC1217LEC28ZOL1RetZOL210MNZ17MNZ214CAT1159CAT218SPA1RetSPA214JAR1Ret8JAR21918th60

Driver did not finish, but was classified as she completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2021Target srlHyundai Elantra N TCRGER121GER214POR116POR216ESP119ESP217HUN120HUN221CZE1CZE2FRA1FRA2ITA1ITA2RUS1RUS221st2

Complete ADAC TCR Germany results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314DCPoints
2022Comtoyou RacingAudi RS 3 LMS TCROSC11OSC25RED11RED21SAL15SAL21NUR13NUR22LAU1RetLAU28SAC13SAC22HOC111HOC222nd313

References

  1. "Jessica Backman". hitta.se. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  2. "HOW BÄCKMAN MADE DOUBLE WTCR HISTORY". FIAWTCR. 7 June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  3. 12"Jessica Bäckman claims Vice-Champion title in TCR Germany". RacersBehindTheHelmet. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  4. "WestCoast Racing enter TCR Europe finale with Ashley Sutton". TouringCarTimes. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  5. "20 Touring Car Cup entries confirmed for FIA Motorsport Games". fiamotorsportgames.com. SRO Motorsports Group. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. "Andreas and Jessica Bäckman joins TCR Germany races at Nürburgring". TouringCarTimes. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. "Siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman joins 2021 WTCR grid". TouringCarTimes. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  8. "CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY: REMEMBERING WHEN... JESSICA BACKMAN MADE DOUBLE WTCR HISTORY". FIAWTCR. 8 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. "Jessica Bäckman joins Comtoyou Racing for TCR Germany season end". TouringCarTimes. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.