Stig Blomqvist | Rally Group B Shrine

INTRODUCTION

Stig Lennart Blomqvist is a rallying legend most remembered for his exploits during the Group B era of the World Rally Championship (WRC). He made his international breakthrough in 1971 by winning 9 out of the 11 rally events he entered while driving a Saab 96 V4. Blomqvist later won the WRC drivers’ title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985 driving an Audi quattro for the Audi factory team. 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. At the Race of Champions, Blomqvist took the title “Champion of Champions” in 1989 and 1990.

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	29 July 1946
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973~2006
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

RALLY BIOGRAPHY

EARLY CAREER

In 1964, Stig Blomqvist acquired his driving licence at the age of 18. Not long after he took second place in a local rally event near the Swedish town of Karlstad while behind the wheel of a Saab 96. After his education as a driving instructor, along with later teammate Per Eklund, 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 good performances helped Saab gain second place behind Alpine-Renault in the International Championship for Manufacturers, the predecessor to the World Rally Championship.

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 1980 Boucles de Spa

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). 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 ended operations in 1981. Stig’s year was completed behind the wheel of a Group 4 Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, finishing eighth in the 1000 Lakes and third at the RAC events.

AUDI SPORT (1982~1985)

For the 1982 season, Audi Sport, Audi’s factory team, signed Stig Blomqvist to drive the four wheel drive quattro A1 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 of his home country by winning the Rallye Sanremo.

With these good results, Audi then signed Blomqvist as their official third seeded driver for 1983. Driving the quattro A1/A2, he scored seven podiums including a win in the season-ending RAC Rally, ultimately finishing fourth in the WRC’s drivers championship. Stig did however capture the British Rally Championship title by winning four out of the six events, again in Audi’s quattro.

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 1984 Sweden

In the 1984 season, even though the new Sport quattro S1 was much more powerful and technically advanced than the previous car, it was generally not well received by the Audi drivers; Michèle Mouton and Stig Blomqvist in particular had trouble adapting to the new shorter quattro’s features which demanded a driving style not quite compatible with their own.

In fact, Blomqvist would shun the S1 while he and Hannu Mikkola raked up points with the “long wheelbase” quattro A2. Blomqvist would win the 1984 driver championship with Mikkola finishing second, easily ahead of their competitors. With this title, Blomqvist became the second Swedish world rally champion after Björn Waldegård. Blomqvist’s victory in the 1984 Rallye Côte d’Ivoire would ultimately remain his career’s last victory in the WRC.

That year, Audi would also get the manufacturer championship back from Lancia. However, for Audi, even though the A2 netted them more consistent results, it was decided to exclusively field the Sport quattro S1 from 1985 and on. This left Blomqvist in a souring disposition with the German team and, before the end of the season, he had already signed up with Peugeot for the following year. That move infamously led Audi to put him on the sidelines for the rest of the 1985 season. Hence this saw Stig finish runner-up to Peugeot’s Timo Salonen.

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 1986 Sweden

In the last Group B WRC season in 1986, Blomqvist competed for Ford in an RS200 and made two events for Peugeot in a 205 Turbo 16 E2, recording his only podium at the Rally Argentina – finishing third. This would make Blomqvist as the only driver to be seeded in four different works supercars during the era. Stig stated years later that his perfect Group B car would have been a “long wheelbase” A2 quattro but with the S1 E2’s very much improved and brutal mechanical components.

POST GROUP B

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 1988 Hunsrück Rallye

After the infamous Group B ban, Blomqvist continued in Group A with Ford by driving a Sierra RS Cosworth, finishing on the podium three times. He also drove for Volkswagen Motorsport and finished third in a Golf GTI Mk2 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.

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 1991 Acropolis

Later in the 1990s, Blomqvist used his experience of two-wheel drive cars and helped Škoda Motorsport to develop the Škoda Felicia F2 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. That same year, Stig finished seventh in the Safari Rally in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth. This would remain his last points-finish in the World Rally Championship.

Blomqvist eventually 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). In 2003, he finished third in the PWRC championship in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

Stig Blomqvist – 2004 Pikes Peak Int’l Hill Climb

In 2004, Blomqvist was invited to drive a specially-prepared Ford RS200E in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb where he would claim overall victory. In 2005, Blomqvist further tried his hands at rallying in the United States, finishing in second place in the Rally America Championship despite scoring two wins and four other podiums at the wheel of a Group N Subaru.

In his last WRC appearance, the 2006 Swedish Rally, Blomqvist drove the Impreza to 24th place overall and was fourth fastest in Group N.

(C) eWRC-results.com / Stig Blomqvist – 2003 Tour de Corse

Since 2007, Stig Blomqvist remains an occasional yet regular appearance in historic / classic rally events around Europe and Africa.

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
Y	TEAM	MC	SE	PT	KE	FR	GR	NZ	BR	FI	IT	CI	GB	PTS
82	Audi / Peugeot	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–	8	58

Y	Team	Event												pts
Y	Team	MC	SE	PT	KE	FR	GR	NZ	AR	FI	IT	CI	GB	pts
83	Audi	3	2	R	–	–	3	R	2	2	R	–	1	89
84	Audi	2	1	R	R	5	1	1	1	4	R	1	–	125
85	Audi	4	2	4	R	–	2	4	R	2	–	–	–	75
86	Ford / Peugeot	–	R	R	–	–	R	–	3	4	–	–	R	US-
86													pts	22

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

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

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)