Stig Blomqvist

Stig Blomqvist

Blomqvist in January 2012
Personal information
Nationality	Swedish
Born	(1946-07-29) 29 July 1946 (age 75) Örebro, Sweden
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973–2006
Co-driver	Björn Cederberg Ana Goñi
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.

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]

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 took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. He was one of a number of ex-world champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007. He was co-driven by Goñi in a Ford Escort RS1600.

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^[3] and as of 2016 drives for BMW Team RBM in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.^[4]

WRC victories[]

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	Swedish Rally	1973	Arne Hertz	Saab 96 V4
2	Swedish Rally	1977		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		2					Ret
1971	Saab Scania	Saab 96 V4		1		13				1
1972	Saab Scania	Saab 96 V4		1			Ret	Ret			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					N/A	N/A
1974	Saab Scania	Saab 96 V4		C	POR	KEN		4				2							N/A	N/A
1975	Saab Scania	Saab 96 V4	MON	2					EX			Ret							N/A	N/A
1976	Saab Scania	Saab 96 V4		SWE 2															N/A	N/A
		Saab 99 EMS							Ret			2
1977	Saab Scania	Saab 99 EMS		1					Ret				Ret						N/A	N/A
1978	Lancia Pirelli	Lancia Stratos HF		4															N/A	N/A
	Saab Scania	Saab 99 EMS							Ret
		Saab 99 Turbo											Ret
1979	Saab Scania	Saab 99 Turbo		1									Ret						10th	20
1980	Saab Scania	Saab 99 Turbo		2									Ret						17th	15
1981	Saab Sport & Rally	Saab 99 Turbo		5															13th	23
	Team Talbot Sweden	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus									8
	Talbot Sport													3
1982	Audi Sport Sweden	Audi Quattro		1							2	1							4th	58
	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus												8
1983	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A1	3		Ret														4th	89
		Audi 80 Quattro		2
		Audi Quattro A2						3	EX	2	2	Ret		1
1984	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A2	2	1	Ret	Ret	5	1	1	1	4								1st	125
		Audi Quattro Sport										Ret	1
1985	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro Sport	4	2	4	Ret		2	4										2nd	75
		Audi Quattro Sport E2								Ret	2
1986	Ford Motor Co Ltd.	Ford RS200		Ret	Ret			Ret						Ret					11nd	22
	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 T16 E2								3	4
1987	Ford Motor Co Ltd.	Ford Sierra XR 4x4	EX	6						Ret									7th	33
		Ford Sierra RS Cosworth				Ret	Ret					3			2
1988	Rally Sport Sweden	Ford Sierra XR 4x4		2															4th	41
	Stig Blomqvist	Ford Sierra RS Cosworth			5
	Ford Motor Co Ltd.											5		7	6
1989	Team VAG Sweden	Audi 200 Sport Quattro	5																16th	20
	Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V				3
1991	Nissan Motorsports Europe	Nissan Sunny GTI-R				5		Ret			8					Ret			24th	11
1992	Nissan Motorsports Europe	Nissan Sunny GTI-R		3							Ret					Ret			21st	12
1993	Opel Team Sweden	Opel Calibra Turbo 4x4		Ret						NZL									NC	0
1994	Ford Motor Co Ltd.	Ford Escort RS Cosworth										4							17th	10
1995	R.A.S. Ford	Ford Escort RS Cosworth	MON	7															15st	4
	Trigard Team Škoda	Škoda Felicia Kit Car							21
1996	Ford Motor Co Ltd.	Ford Escort RS Cosworth	8	7															18th	7
	Trigard Team Škoda	Škoda Felicia Kit Car							Ret
1997	Ford Motor Co	Ford Escort WRC		10							NZL								NC	0
1999	Ford Motor Co Ltd.	Ford Puma Kit Car		Ret							NZL								NC	0
2000	Stig Blomqvist	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	MON	SWE	KEN	POR	ESP			NZL						Ret			NC	0
2001	David Sutton Cars Ltd	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI		18	Ret	21	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		NZL 21	30		23	16			NC	0
	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2									22
2002	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2		15		Ret			GRC 17										NC	0
	Stig Blomqvist	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII												NZL 19	22	Ret
2003	David Sutton Cars Ltd	Subaru Impreza STi N8	MON	26															NC	0
		Subaru Impreza WRX STi				NZL 24			11	29		19		20
2004	David Sutton Cars Ltd	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	SWE 21	MEX	NZL	CYP	14	TUR	ARG	FIN	GER		GBR				AUS	NC	0
2005	Stig Blomqvist	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	MON	SWE 20	MEX	NZL	ITA	CYP	TUR			FIN		GBR	JPN	FRA		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
	Saab	Saab 96 V4 Turbo	AUT1	GER1	FIN	SWE 10	BEL	AUT2	NED	GBR1	GER2	GBR2	37th	1
	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
	Saab	Saab 99 Turbo	AUT	ITA	FIN	SWE	FRA	BEL	NED 6	GBR	GER		18th	6
	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
	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 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‡

‡ Endurance driver – not eligible for points

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stig Blomqvist.

• Blomqvist at World Rally Archive

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Michèle Mouton	Autosport International Rally Driver Award 1983	Succeeded by Ari Vatanen
Sporting positions
Preceded by Hannu Mikkola	World Rally Champion 1984	Succeeded by Timo Salonen
Preceded by Juha Kankkunen	Race of Champions Champion of Champions 1989–1990	Succeeded by Juha Kankkunen
Preceded by Flavio Alonso	Race of Champions Rally Master 1993	Succeeded by Timo Salonen
Records
Preceded by Jean-Claude Andruet 30 years, 169 days (1973 Monte Carlo Rally)	Youngest rally winner 26 years, 203 days (1973 Swedish Rally)	Succeeded by Markku Alén 24 years, 156 days (1975 Rallye de Portugal)