Stig Blomqvist
![]() Blomqvist in January 2012 | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | (1946-07-29) 29 July 1946 (age 78) Örebro, Sweden |
World Rally Championship record | |
Active years | 1973–2006 |
Co-driver | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Teams | Saab, Talbot, Audi, Ford, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Nissan, Škoda |
Rallies | 122 |
Championships | 1 (1984) |
Rally wins | 11 |
Podiums | 33 |
Stage wins | 486 |
Total points | 573 |
First rally | 1973 Swedish Rally |
First win | 1973 Swedish Rally |
Last win | 1984 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire |
Last rally | 2006 Swedish Rally |
Stig Lennart Blomqvist (born 29 July 1946) is a retired Swedish rally driver. He made his international breakthrough in 1971. Driving an Audi Quattro for the Audi factory team, Blomqvist won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985. He won his home event, the Swedish Rally, seven times.
Outside the WRC, he won the British Rally Championship in 1983 and the Swedish Rally Championship several times.[quantify] At the Race of Champions, Blomqvist took the title "Champion of Champions" in 1989 and 1990.
Career
Stig Blomqvist acquired his driving licence at the age of 18, and immediately took second place in a 1964 local rally event near the Swedish town of Karlstad, behind the wheel of a Saab 96. After his education as a driving instructor, together with later teammate Per Eklund at the Kvinnersta Folkhögskola outside of Örebro, he proceeded to drive with the Saab team, and achieved his first international victories in 1971; first winning the Swedish Rally, then the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and the RAC Rally in Great Britain. These performances helped Saab gain second place behind Alpine-Renault in the International Championship for Manufacturers, the predecessor to the World Rally Championship.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/StigBlomqvistHunsr%C3%BCckRallye1980.jpg/220px-StigBlomqvistHunsr%C3%BCckRallye1980.jpg)
Blomqvist went on to win the Swedish Rally again in 1972 (Saab 96 V4), 1973 (Saab 96 V4), which marked his first WRC event and win, 1977 (Saab 99 EMS) and 1979 (Saab 99 Turbo).[1] Outside the WRC, he won the 1973 Cyprus Rally, the 1976 Boucles de Spa and the Swedish Rally Championship several times. His long-time association with Saab ended when the Saab Sport department hung up their spurs in 1981. Driving a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus in 1981, Blomqvist finished eighth in the 1000 Lakes and third at the RAC.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Stig_Blomqvist_-_2007_Race_of_Champions_4.jpg/220px-Stig_Blomqvist_-_2007_Race_of_Champions_4.jpg)
For the 1982 season, Audi Sport, Audi's factory team, signed Blomqvist to drive the Quattro in a few events alongside Hannu Mikkola and Michèle Mouton. He won the Swedish Rally, finished second in the 1000 Lakes and then took his first WRC victory outside his home country by winning the Rallye Sanremo.[1] Audi then signed Blomqvist as their third regular driver for the following season. Blomqvist scored seven podiums, including a win in the season-ending RAC Rally, and finished fourth in the drivers' world championship.[1] In the British Rally Championship, he captured the title by winning four of the six events.
In the 1984 season, Blomqvist drove the Quattro A2 and the Sport Quattro evolutions to five victories, and finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally.[1] Beating Mikkola to the title, he became the second Swedish world rally champion after Björn Waldegård. His first place in the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire would remain his career-last victory in the WRC. The 1985 season saw him finish runner-up to Timo Salonen of the new Peugeot Talbot Sport team headed by Jean Todt. His best result was second; at the Swedish Rally, the 1000 Lakes and the Acropolis Rally.[1] In the last Group B season in 1986, Blomqvist competed for Ford in an RS200 and for Peugeot in a 205 Turbo 16 E2, recording his only podium at the Rally Argentina.[1]
During the first two Group A years, Blomqvist continued with Ford and drove a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, finishing on the podium three times.[1] He also drove for Volkswagen Motorsport and finished third in a Golf Mk 2 16V on the 1989 Safari Rally.The 1990 WRC season was the series' first without Blomqvist in action. In 1991 and 1992, he drove a Nissan Sunny GTI-R for Nissan Motorsports Europe, Nissan's factory team. At the 1992 Swedish Rally, Blomqvist took third place, which would remain his last podium spot in the WRC.[1]
Later in the 1990s, he used his experience of two-wheel drive cars and helped Škoda Motorsport to develop the Škoda Felicia Kit Car. During a guest appearance at the 1996 RAC Rally, when the event was not on the WRC schedule, the 50-year-old veteran finished third overall with the car.[1] That same year, he finished seventh in the Safari Rally in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth. This would remain his last points-finish in the World Rally Championship.[1]
After only three events in four years, Blomqvist returned to the role of a regular WRC competitor. Together with co-driver Ana Goñi, he drove a Group N category David Sutton Cars Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 in twelve events in 2001, finishing fifth overall in the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC).[1] In 2003, he finished third in the PWRC championship in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.[1] In his last world rally, the 2006 Swedish Rally, Blomqvist drove the Impreza to 24th place overall and was fourth fastest in Group N.[2]
In September 2008, Blomqvist was due to take part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland, in a Ford Escort Mk2 with Goñi as his co-driver. The rally was held in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.[3]
He has lived in the UK for many years, based in Saffron Walden, Essex. His son, Tom Blomqvist, has followed in his motorsports footsteps, becoming the youngest ever Formula Renault UK champion in 2010, at the age of 16.[4]
WRC victories
# Event Season Co-driver Car 1 Swedish Rally
1973 Arne Hertz Saab 96 V4 2 Swedish Rally
1977 Hans Sylvan Saab 99 EMS 3 Swedish Rally
1979 Björn Cederberg Saab 99 Turbo 4 Swedish Rally
1982 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro 5 Rallye Sanremo
1982 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro 6 RAC Rally
1983 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro A2 7 Swedish Rally
1984 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro A2 8 Acropolis Rally
1984 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro A2 9 Rally of New Zealand
1984 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro A2 10 Rally Argentina
1984 Björn Cederberg Audi Quattro A2 11 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
1984 Björn Cederberg Audi Sport Quattro
Racing record
Complete IMC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 2 | ITA | KEN | AUT | GRE | GBR Ret | ||
1971 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 1 | ITA | KEN 13 | MAR | AUT | GRE | GBR 1 | |
1972 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 1 | KEN | MAR | GRE Ret | AUT Ret | ITA | USA | GBR 2 |
Complete WRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973 | Saab | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 1 | POR | KEN | MOR | GRE | POL | FIN Ret | AUT Ret | ITA | USA | GBR Ret | FRA | N/A | N/A | |||
1974 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE C | POR | KEN | GRE | FIN 4 | ITA | CAN | USA | GBR 2 | FRA | N/A | N/A | |||||
1975 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 2 | KEN | GRE | MOR | POR | FIN EX | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | N/A | N/A | ||||||
1976 | Saab Scania | Saab 96 V4 | MON | SWE 2 | POR | KEN | GRE | MOR | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
Saab 99 EMS | FIN Ret | ITA | FRA | GBR 2 | ||||||||||||||||
1977 | Saab Scania | Saab 99 EMS | MON | SWE 1 | POR | KEN | NZL | GRE | FIN Ret | CAN | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | N/A | N/A | |||||
1978 | Lancia Pirelli | Lancia Stratos HF | MON | SWE 4 | KEN | POR | GRE | FIN | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||
Saab Scania | Saab 99 EMS | CAN Ret | ITA | CIV | FRA | |||||||||||||||
Saab 99 Turbo | GBR Ret | |||||||||||||||||||
1979 | Saab Scania | Saab 99 Turbo | MON | SWE 1 | POR | KEN | GRE | NZL | FIN | CAN | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | CIV | 10th | 20 | ||||
1980 | Saab Scania | Saab 99 Turbo | MON | SWE 2 | POR | KEN | GRC | ARG | FIN | NZL | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | CIV | 17th | 15 | ||||
1981 | Saab Sport & Rally | Saab 99 Turbo | MON | SWE 5 | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | BRA | 13th | 23 | ||||||||
Team Talbot Sweden | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | FIN 8 | ITA | CIV | ||||||||||||||||
Talbot Sport | GBR 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
1982 | Audi Sport Sweden | Audi Quattro | MON | SWE 1 | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | BRA | FIN 2 | ITA 1 | CIV | 4th | 58 | |||||
Peugeot Talbot Sport | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | GBR 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
1983 | Audi Sport | Audi Quattro A1 | MON 3 | POR Ret | KEN | FRA | 4th | 89 | ||||||||||||
Audi 80 Quattro | SWE 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
Audi Quattro A2 | GRC 3 | NZL EX | ARG 2 | FIN 2 | ITA Ret | CIV | GBR 1 | |||||||||||||
1984 | Audi Sport | Audi Quattro A2 | MON 2 | SWE 1 | POR Ret | KEN Ret | FRA 5 | GRE 1 | NZL 1 | ARG 1 | FIN 4 | 1st | 125 | |||||||
Audi Quattro Sport | ITA Ret | CIV 1 | GBR | |||||||||||||||||
1985 | Audi Sport | Audi Quattro Sport | MON 4 | SWE 2 | POR 4 | KEN Ret | FRA | GRC 2 | NZL 4 | 2nd | 75 | |||||||||
Audi Quattro Sport E2 | ARG Ret | FIN 2 | ITA | CIV | GBR | |||||||||||||||
1986 | Ford Motor Co Ltd. | Ford RS200 | MON | SWE Ret | POR Ret | KEN | FRA | GRE Ret | NZL | GBR Ret | USA | 11th | 22 | |||||||
Peugeot Talbot Sport | Peugeot 205 T16 E2 | ARG 3 | FIN 4 | CIV | ITA | |||||||||||||||
1987 | Ford Motor Co Ltd. | Ford Sierra XR 4x4 | MON EX | SWE 6 | POR | NZL Ret | ARG | 7th | 33 | |||||||||||
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | KEN Ret | FRA Ret | GRE | USA | FIN 3 | CIV | ITA | GBR 2 | ||||||||||||
1988 | Rally Sport Sweden | Ford Sierra XR 4x4 | MON | SWE 2 | 4th | 41 | ||||||||||||||
Stig Blomqvist | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | POR 5 | KEN | FRA | GRC | USA | NZL | ARG | ||||||||||||
Ford Motor Co Ltd. | FIN 5 | CIV | ITA 7 | GBR 6 | ||||||||||||||||
1989 | Team VAG Sweden | Audi 200 Sport Quattro | SWE 5 | MON | POR | 16th | 20 | |||||||||||||
Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V | KEN 3 | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA | CIV | GBR | |||||||||
1991 | Nissan Motorsports Europe | Nissan Sunny GTI-R | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 5 | FRA | GRE Ret | NZL | ARG | FIN 8 | AUS | ITA | CIV | ESP | GBR Ret | 24th | 11 | ||
1992 | Nissan Motorsports Europe | Nissan Sunny GTI-R | MON | SWE 3 | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN Ret | AUS | ITA | CIV | ESP | GBR Ret | 21st | 12 | ||
1993 | Opel Team Sweden | Opel Calibra Turbo 4x4 | MON | SWE Ret | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | NZL | FIN | AUS | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | ||||
1994 | Ford Motor Co Ltd. | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | MON | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | NZL | FIN | ITA | GBR 4 | 17th | 10 | ||||||
1995 | R.A.S. Ford | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | MON | SWE 7 | POR | FRA | NZL | AUS | ESP | 15st | 4 | |||||||||
Trigard Team Škoda | Škoda Felicia Kit Car | GBR 21 | ||||||||||||||||||
1996 | Ford Motor Co Ltd. | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | SWE 8 | KEN 7 | IDN | GRC | ARG | FIN | 18th | 7 | ||||||||||
Trigard Team Škoda | Škoda Felicia Kit Car | AUS Ret | ITA | ESP | ||||||||||||||||
1997 | Ford Motor Co | Ford Escort WRC | MON | SWE 10 | KEN | POR | ESP | FRA | ARG | GRC | NZL | FIN | IDN | ITA | AUS | GBR | NC | 0 | ||
1999 | Ford Motor Co Ltd. | Ford Puma Kit Car | MON | SWE Ret | KEN | POR | ESP | FRA | ARG | GRC | NZL | FIN | CHN | ITA | AUS | GBR | NC | 0 | ||
2000 | Stig Blomqvist | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | MON | SWE | KEN | POR | ESP | ARG | GRC | NZL | FIN | CYP | FRA | ITA | AUS | GBR Ret | NC | 0 | ||
2001 | David Sutton Cars Ltd | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | MON | SWE 18 | POR Ret | ESP 21 | ARG Ret | CYP Ret | GRC Ret | KEN Ret | NZL 21 | ITA 30 | FRA | AUS 23 | GBR 16 | NC | 0 | |||
Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2 | FIN 22 | ||||||||||||||||||
2002 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2 | MON | SWE 15 | FRA | ESP Ret | CYP | ARG | GRC 17 | KEN | FIN | GER | ITA | NC | 0 | |||||
Stig Blomqvist | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII | NZL 19 | AUS 22 | GBR Ret | ||||||||||||||||
2003 | David Sutton Cars Ltd | Subaru Impreza STi N8 | MON | SWE 26 | TUR | NC | 0 | |||||||||||||
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | NZL 24 | ARG | GRC | CYP 11 | GER 29 | FIN | AUS 19 | ITA | FRA 20 | ESP | GBR | |||||||||
2004 | David Sutton Cars Ltd | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | MON | SWE 21 | MEX | NZL | CYP | GRC 14 | TUR | ARG | FIN | GER | JPN | GBR | ITA | FRA | ESP | AUS | NC | 0 |
2005 | Stig Blomqvist | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | MON | SWE 20 | MEX | NZL | ITA | CYP | TUR | GRC | ARG | FIN | GER | GBR | JPN | FRA | ESP | AUS | NC | 0 |
2006 | Stig Blomqvist | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | MON | SWE 24 | MEX | ESP | FRA | ARG | ITA | GRE | GER | FIN | JPN | CYP | TUR | AUS | NZL | GBR | NC | 0 |
Complete FIA European Rallycross Cup results
Overall
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ERC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Saab | Saab 96 V4 Turbo | AUT1 | GER1 | FIN | SWE 10 | BEL | AUT2 | NED | GBR1 | GER2 | GBR2 | 37th | 1 |
1978 | Saab | Saab 99 Turbo | AUT | ITA | SWE 4 | FIN | BEL | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | 36th | 10 |
Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results
Touringcar Division
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ERX | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Saab | Saab 99 Turbo | AUT | ITA | FIN | SWE | FRA | BEL | NED 6 | GBR | GER | 18th | 6 | |
1981 | Saab | Saab 99 Turbo | AUT | SWE 9 | FIN | DEN | BEL | NED | FRA | NOR | GBR | GER | 32nd | 2 |
Division 2
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ERX | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | Stig Blomqvist | Ford RS200 E2 | SPA | AUT | SWE 7 | FIN 3 | IRE | FRA | BEL 3 | NED 3 | NOR | GBR | GER | 11th | 55 |
1994 | Stig Blomqvist | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | AUT | POR | FRA | IRE | GBR | SWE | FIN | BEL | NED | NOR 5 | GER | 21st | 12 |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | ![]() | Volvo 240T | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NÜR | SPA | BNO | SIL | BAT | CLD | WEL ovr:13 cls:8† | FJI | NC | 0 |
† Not eligible for points.
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Overall Pos | Pts | Class Pos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Trakstar Motorsport | Ford Sierra RS500 | A | OUL | DON 2‡ | THR | SIL | OUL | SIL | BRH | SNE | BRH | BIR | DON | THR | SIL | NC‡ | 0 | NC‡ |
Source:[5] |
‡ Endurance driver – not eligible for points
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Stig Blomqvist". RallyBase. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ "55th Uddeholm Swedish Rally". RallyBase. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ "Grist set for co-driving return". WRC.com. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ^ Åhman, Michael (2009-01-20). "Han är "The Stig"!". Auto, Motor & Sport. Archived from the original on 2010-09-04. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Blomqvist at World Rally Archive
Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded by | Autosport International Rally Driver Award 1983 | Succeeded by |
Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by | World Rally Champion 1984 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Race of Champions Champion of Champions 1989–1990 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Race of Champions Rally Master 1993 | Succeeded by |
Records | ||
Preceded by | Youngest rally winner 26 years, 203 days (1973 Swedish Rally) | Succeeded by |
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