Slim Borgudd

Karl Edward Tommy Borgudd, better known as Slim Borgudd (born 25 November 1946) is a Swedish former Formula One driver who raced for the ATS and Tyrrell teams.

Borgudd was born in Borgholm, Kalmar County.

His first career was as a drummer, mainly in jazz-rock, most notably for short-lived groups Lea Riders Group, Made In Sweden and Solar Plexus. He has also worked with Björn Ulvaeus's group the Hootenanny Singers and ABBA, being sponsored as a Formula One driver by the latter.

Borgudd began racing on and off in the mid 1960s with a Lotus Formula Ford car, but his racing career only became more serious in 1972, after taking five wins in five sports car racing club events. Borgudd raced a Hillman Imp and a Volvo 122 in the Swedish Touring Car Championship from 1972 to 1975, finishing runner-up in 1972, as well as racing in the Scandinavian Formula Ford series, which he won in 1973.

In 1976, Borgudd moved up Formula 3, racing sporadically until the end of the 1977 season. In 1978, he formed his own team and raced full-time in the Swedish and European series, in an old Ralt-Toyota, which he took to the Swedish championship title in 1979, also finishing third in the European series. Failing to move to Formula 2 in 1980, he raced only in the F3 Monaco Grand Prix, where he reached third place before the bodywork became loose, forcing Borgudd to finish the race holding the body together with one hand.

In 1981, Borgudd, now 34, finally entered Formula 1 in ATS, making his debut in the San Marino Grand Prix, placing ABBA logos on the car's sidepods (although there was no cash sponsorship), a hopeful move to attract other investors. In spite of a run of non-qualifications, Borgudd managed to finish 6th in the British Grand Prix, scoring his first world championship point. In spite of the added morale boost, Borgudd failed to score any more points.

In 1982 Ken Tyrrell hired Borgudd to partner Michele Alboreto, as the Swede had out-qualified the Italian on several occasions in 1981. However, Borgudd did not adapt to his new team, and was unceremoniously dumped when his sponsorship money ran out early in the season.

From 1983 to 1985, Borgudd raced only on occasion, including his taking part in the 1984 and 1985 Macau Grand Prix. In 1985 he returned to race a Formula 1 car, an Arrows A6, in the new Formula 3000/F1 combined championship finishing 10th in the Vallelunga race. He entered 5 races that season, but the rebuilt F1 cars were not competitive compared to the specified F3000 cars. Although he took part in the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in 1989 had an outright win in the Willhire 24 Hour, a minor touring car race where he drove a Ford Sierra, the Swede made his mark in truck racing the following years. In 1986 and 1987, Borgudd was champion in Divisions 2 and 3 of the European Truck Racing Cup, respectively. The following years, success was more fleeting, although the Scandinavian driver managed to finish the 1992 Class B championship in third place.

It wouldn't be until 1993 that Borgudd made his full-time return to automobiles, joining the works Mazda team and driving a Mazda Xedos 6 in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with sparse results. However, a switch to the Nordic Touring Car Championship in 1994 saw him take the championship title. The Mazda team made plans to return to the BTCC the following year, but the plan was scrapped.

Also in 1994, Borgudd went back to top form in the Truck Racing Cup, where the Swede lost the race to the championship title to British driver Steve Parrish, after a dogfight that lasted the entire season. Borgudd responded in kind in 1995, beating Parrish and Markus Oestreich by a large margin. In 1996 and 1997, Borgudd finished 5th and 4th only, and announced his retirement after accusing Mercedes-Benz of favoring other drivers. Since then, he has made occasional returns to racing at amateur level, having settled down in Coventry.

(key)