Slim Borgudd
When Slim Borgudd (1946-2023) made his Formula 1 debut with Günter Schmidt’s ATS team, at the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix (picture above), his credential as a driver weren’t exactly his biggest claim of fame.
Rather, the Swede was referred to as ABBA’s former drummer, albeit as a session musician, who had performed mainly in the recording studio with the famous pop group, and he enjoyed a solid friendship with one of the group’s singers, Bjorn Ulvaeus.
The underfunded Borgudd, had learned his trade in F3 from 1976 to 1979, winning the Swedish title in his final year, before graduating rather surprisingly, directly to F1 in 1981 with ATS.
The Swede did better than most expected of him during his ten Grand Prix appearances in 1981 and 1982, and even finished sixth in his second race at Silverstone!
Borgudd’s performance in 1981 was solid enough to persuade Ken Tyrrell to hire him alongside Michele Alboreto for 1982. However, despite a seventh place finish in Brazil (picture below), Borgudd did not adapt to his new team, and when his sponsorship money ran out after three races, he was dumped.
He was then seen at the 1984 and 1985 Macau F3 Grand Prix, occasionally in F3000 in 1985 and in the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans. A passionate and charming character with an atypical journey, Slim Borgudd.
