Twenty years ago, the South Swedish Rally brought the ERC to the country, something it had done since its second running in 1977. But when the streamlined ERC calendar for 2004 was announced, Sweden was a notable absentee.
Sun 02 Jul 2023
ERC @ 70: Sweden’s last stand
The FIA European Rally Championship returns to Sweden in its 70th year for the first time since 2003 with BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia having the honour of hosting round five of the action-packed season from 6 - 8 July.
Armed with a Toyota Corolla WRC, Rådström headed Mats Thorszelius and Andreas Eriksson with Poland’s Tomasz Kuchar (pictured below) the top non-Swede in fourth position.
Kenneth Eriksson, Per Eklund, Mats Jonsson, Jani Paasonen and Henning Solberg are among a number of other notable ERC-counting South Swedish Rally winners over the years, as are Björn Waldegård and Stig Blomqvist.
Blomqvist, took his fourth and final South Swedish Rally win aboard a Ford RS200 in 1986 (pictured top). He will be on duty during the Rally Legends demonstration event that forms part of the BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia attractions in Karlstad next weekend.
Tickets are still available for BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia but must be purchased in advance. More information is available at: https://ercroyalrally.com/en/.
Although there has been plenty of Swedish-based success on the stages of the ERC in the seasons that have followed, there hasn’t been a European championship round in Sweden since Thomas Rådström (pictured below) triumphed on the South Swedish Rally on 24 May, 2003.
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