INTRODUCTION
Björn “Walle” Waldegård (born in Rimbo, Sweden) was a Swedish rally driver and endurance event specialist. He was one of the predominant drivers in the World Rally Championship in the seventies and eighties, and was in 1979 the first official world champion in the drivers’ championship; a title he achieved behind the wheel of a Ford Escort RS1800. He was also known for his long working relationship with Toyota, which lasted from the early eighties to early nineties. He won the famous Safari Rally a whopping three times; the latest in the 1990 season, at the age of 46, which is up to date still the record for the oldest winner of a WRC event. Also, Waldegård had some success in rallycross during the mid seventies.
QUICK BROWSE CONTENT
- PERSONAL SUMMARY (WRC)
- RALLY BIOGRAPHY
- GROUP B RESULTS (WRC)
- WRC VICTORIES
- AWARDS / ACHIEVEMENTS
- GALLERY
- VIDEOS
- REFERENCES
PERSONAL SUMMARY (WRC)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Swedish |
| Born | November 12th 1943 |
| Died | August 29th 2014 |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1973~1992 |
| Teams | BMW, Toyota, Lancia, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat |
| Rallies | 95 |
| Championships | 1 (1979) |
| Rally wins | 16 |
| Podiums | 35 |
| Stage wins | 290 |
| Total points | 428 |
| First rally | 1973 Monte Carlo Rally |
| First win | 1975 Swedish Rally |
| Last win | 1990 Safari Rally |
| Last rally | 1992 Safari Rally |
RALLY BIOGRAPHY
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Björn Waldegård debuted rallying in 1962. In 1967 and 1968, he consecutively won the Swedish Rally Championship. In 1969, came his first international success when he drove a factory Porsche 911 with a surprise win at the Monte Carlo rally. A feat that he was able to repeat in 1970, again in a Porsche.
By the time of the inaugural season of the World Rally Championship in 1973, Waldegard was now one of the front runners at the highest level of rallying. In season 1975, he was signed by Italian team Lancia to drive their innovative Stratos HF. With this car, he grabbed his first WRC victory in his home event of Sweden that same year.
In 1976, there was some controversy during the Rallye San Remo in Italy, the home event for Lancia; prior to the final stage of the rally was Waldegard leading with just four seconds over Italian teammate Munari, team management would prefer a tie finish or a win for Munari at his home event, and insisted that Waldegard wait four seconds on the starting line before leaving. Waldegard, ignored this and went flat out to subsequently win the rally. Before the end of the season he left Lancia to sign with Ford. Waldegard managed to be competitive again.
As of the 1979 season, the FISA introduced the first official drivers’ championship in the WRC. Waldegard managed to win twice out of seven podium finishes to claim that debut championship, with only one point ahead of teammate Hannu Mikkola.
For 1980, Waldegard drove for a myriad of teams including Fiat, Mercedes, and Toyota, and was not able to retain the title who went to Walter Röhrl instead. In 1981, Waldegard signed with Toyota, the team led by former fellow driver and compatriot Ove Andersson, where he was responsible for the first major successes of the team. In 1982, he brought Toyota’s first WRC victory during the Rally New Zealand.
From 1983 to 1986, Toyota had a difficult time remaining competitive in the newly formed Group B class, as their Celica Twin Cam was largely under-powered and rear wheel drive only. However, the Celica brought production car reliability and ruggedness to the game, which proved to be a winning combination in endurance events. In that period, Waldegard won both the Safari Rally and the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire twice, and finishing second once on each rally, all to great praise from the underdog team.
PARTIAL SOURCE: Wikipedia
(possibly spell-checked, translated, and/or edited; abridged, corrected, and/or expanded)
GROUP B RESULTS (WRC)
(# = finish position / R = retired or DNF / – = did not compete)
| Y | TEAM | EVENT | PTS | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MC |
 SE |
 PT |
 KE |
 FR |
 GR |
 NZ |
 BR |
 FI |
 IT |
 CI |
 GB |
|||
| 82 | Toyota | R | – | R | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 3 | 7 | 36 |
| Y | Team | Event | pts | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MC |
SE |
 PT |
 KE |
 FR |
 GR |
 NZ |
 AR |
 FI |
 IT |
 CI |
 GB |
|||
| 83 | Toyota | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | R | 1 | R | 20 |
| 84 | Toyota | – | – | R | 1 | – | – | 5 | – | R | – | – | R | 28 |
| 85 | Toyota | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | R | – | 7 | – | 2 | R | 34 |
| 86 | Toyota | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |  US5 |
| 86 | pts | 48 | ||||||||||||
WRC VICTORIES
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AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
(under construction)
GALLERY
(under construction)
VIDEOS
REFERENCES
(free delivery worldwide!)
AWIN Affiliates Program – by purchasing books with the links provided here you are also helping to support the Rally Group B Shrine!*
Group B – The rise and fall of rallying’s wildest cars (English)
Gruppe B – Aufstieg und Fall der Rallye-Monster (German)
Group 4 – From Stratos to quattro (English)
Gruppe 4 – Das Jahrzehnt der Heckschleudern (German)
Safari Rally: 50 Years of the Toughest Rally in the World (English + German)
(C) Page by Jay Auger – website owner, main author & chief editor
- PARTIAL SOURCE: Wikipedia
- More stats on Björn Waldegård can be found on eWRC-Results
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