Karl Edvard Tommy “Slim” Borgudd (25 November 1946 – 23 February 2023) was a Swedish musician and racing driver whose unusual career took him from the drum kit to Formula One and, later, championship success in touring cars and racing trucks.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Birthplace | Borgholm, Sweden |
| Born | 25 November 1946 |
| Died | 23 February 2023 |
| First Grand Prix | 1981 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1982 United States Grand Prix West |
| Years Active | 1981–1982 |
| Current/Last Team | Tyrrell |
Borgudd drove for ATS and Tyrrell in Formula One, scoring one World Championship point. Before and after that brief Grand Prix career, he won titles in Formula Ford, Formula Three, touring cars and the European Truck Racing Championship.
Biography
Borgudd was born in Borgholm on the Swedish island of Öland on 25 November 1946.
His first profession was music. A jazz-rock drummer, Borgudd played with the Lea Riders Group, Made in Sweden and Solar Plexus. He also worked with the Hootenanny Singers, the band featuring future ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.
Racing career
Early competition
Borgudd began racing intermittently during the mid-1960s, initially driving a Lotus Formula Ford. Motorsport did not become a serious pursuit until 1972, when he won all five sports-car club events he entered.
Between 1972 and 1975, Borgudd raced a Hillman Imp and Volvo 122 in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. He finished runner-up during his first season and combined those appearances with the Scandinavian Formula Ford series, which he won in 1973.
Formula Three
Borgudd graduated to Formula Three in 1976 but competed only sporadically over his first two seasons. For 1978, he established his own team and committed to full campaigns in Sweden and Europe.
His equipment was hardly cutting-edge: Borgudd fielded an ageing Ralt-Toyota. Nevertheless, he drove it to the Swedish Formula Three Championship in 1979 and finished third in the European series.
A planned move into Formula Two failed to materialise for 1980, leaving the Monaco Formula Three Grand Prix as his only major single-seater appearance of the year. Borgudd climbed to third before part of the car’s bodywork worked loose. Rather than surrender the position, he completed the race while using one hand to hold the body together.
Formula One
At 34, Borgudd finally reached Formula One with ATS in 1981. He debuted at the San Marino Grand Prix and immediately outqualified teammate Jan Lammers.
Borgudd did not arrive with conventional financial backing. Instead, he placed the ABBA logo prominently on the car’s sidepods. The band was not providing cash sponsorship; its famous name was intended to attract attention and persuade other companies to support the programme. The tactic generated considerable publicity, if not a sudden avalanche of funding.
After several failures to qualify, Borgudd broke through at the British Grand Prix. He kept the uncompetitive ATS running long enough to finish sixth and collect his first—and only—World Championship point.
That result could not disguise the car’s limitations, and Borgudd remained scoreless through the rest of the season. Even so, his performances impressed Ken Tyrrell, who signed him to partner Michele Alboreto in 1982.
The move was short-lived. Borgudd struggled to settle into the new team and was dropped after three races when his sponsorship money disappeared. His Formula One career was over almost as abruptly as it had begun.
Formula 3000 and sports cars
Borgudd made only occasional appearances between 1983 and 1985, including entries in the 1984 and 1985 Macau Grands Prix.
He returned to single-seater competition in the inaugural Formula 3000 season of 1985. The regulations permitted converted Formula One machinery, and Borgudd entered five races in an Arrows A6. He finished tenth at Vallelunga, but the older Grand Prix cars could not match the new purpose-built Formula 3000 chassis.
Borgudd later entered the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two years afterwards, he shared a Ford Sierra to outright victory in the Willhire 24 Hour touring-car race.
Truck racing
Racing trucks proved an unexpectedly productive second act. Borgudd won Division 2 of the European Truck Racing Championship in 1986 and followed it by capturing the Division 3 crown in 1987.
Results became less consistent in subsequent seasons, although he still finished third in the 1992 Class B standings.
Borgudd also returned to touring cars for the 1994 Nordic championship and won the title. Roger Dowson Engineering planned to take its Mazda operation—and Borgudd—into the British Touring Car Championship in 1995, but the proposed programme was cancelled.
At the same time, Borgudd rediscovered his best truck-racing form. He fought Steve Parrish throughout the 1994 Truck Racing Cup season, narrowly losing the championship after a year-long duel.
The rematch belonged emphatically to Borgudd. In 1995, he defeated Parrish and Markus Oestreich by a wide margin to secure another championship.
He finished fifth in 1996 and fourth in 1997 before announcing his retirement, having accused Mercedes-Benz of favouring other drivers. Borgudd later made occasional amateur appearances after settling in Coventry, England.
He died on 23 February 2023 at the age of 76.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 15 |
| Race Starts | 10 |
| Did Not Start | 0 |
| Best Race Start | 18th |
| Best Race Finish | 6th |
| Retirements | 4 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 0 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 5 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 15 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 5 |
Points
| Points Scored | 1 |
| Points Finishes | 1 |
| Most Points in a Single Season | 1 |
| Seasons with Points | 1 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | ATS | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18th | 6th | 1 | 1 | 18th |
| 1982 | Tyrrell | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st | 7th | 0 | 0 | NC |
Stats by Constructor
| Constructor | Years | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATS | 1981 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18th | 6th | 1 | 1 |
| Tyrrell | 1982 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st | 7th | 0 | 0 |
Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head
| Teammate | Years | Races | Qualifying H2H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Lammers | 1981 | 4 | 2-2 |
| Michele Alboreto | 1982 | 3 | 0-3 |
