25/11/1946 - 23/2/2023
Record updated 24-Feb-23
Karl Edward Tommy Borgudd was born in Borgholm on the south east Island of Oland, Sweden. His first career was in music as a drummer with amongst others Björn Ulvaeus's group the Hootenanny Singers and he is most famouse for his work in studio sessions with Abba.
He began racing in 1969 with a Lotus Formula Ford and in sports cars in his native Sweden. When touring Britain with Björn Ulvaeus's band in the 1969, he met British jazz player and amateur racer Chris Barber and bought his Lotus 22 sports racer.
In 1972 he had a good season with the Lotus 22, taking five wins in five sports car racing club events. He also raced a Hillman Imp and a Volvo 122 in the Swedish Touring Car Championship between 1972 and 1975, finishing runner-up in 1972, and the following year he won the Scandinavian Formula Ford Championship.
A move up to Formula 3 came in 1976 but he only raced occasionally over the next two years, falling back to drumming to keep the wolf from the door!
In 1978 he tried again at full time racing, forming his own team to compete in the Swedish and European F3 series. Driving an old Ralt-Toyota he took the Swedish Championship title in 1979 andfinished a creitable third in the European series.
1980 was a barren year as he failed to secure a Foruma 2 seat and his only race came in the F3 support race at the Monaco Grand Prix. He was running third when the bodywork became loose and he had to finish the race holding the body on with one hand.
In 1981 hegot a shot at Formula 1 with ATS, making his debut in the San Marino Grand Prix, where he outqualified his team-mate, Jan Lammers. It is not clear whether he received any financial backing from Björn Ulvaeus however the car ran with ABBA logos on the sidepods. Following a run of non-qualifications, Borgudd managed to finish 6th in the British Grand Prix, scoring his first world championship point. This was to be the high point of the season for the uncompetitive ATS.
His performance in 1981 was enough to persuade Ken Tyrrell to sign him to partner Michele Alboreto for 1982. However things did not go well and when his sponsorship money ran after three races he was unceremoniously dropped.
Borgudd continued to race occasionaly, taking part in the 1984 and 1985 Macau Grand Prix and in 1985 he also returned to the the new Formula 3000/F1 series with an Arrows A6. In the five races he took part in he managed to finish 10th in the Vallelunga race but the rebuilt F1 cars were not competitive compared to the specified F3000 cars.
In 1987 he failed to qualify the 2.3L Volvo Turbo powered Tiga GC286 at 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.
He then found success in truck racing and in 1986 he won the Divisions 2 Class of the European Truck Racing Championship and in 1987 he too the Class 3 title. The following years were less successful though he did finish the 1992 Class B championship in third place.
A switch to the Nordic Touring Car Championship in 1994 saw him take the championship title. The Mazda team, run by Roger Dowson Engineering made plans to return to the British Touring Car Championship in 1995 with Borgudd, 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.
He settled in Coventry and, in 2005, started working for Radical Sportscars Ltd in Peterborough, UK as the Overseas Distribution Manager. He also continued racing and in 2006 he won of the annual “Winterfest” race at Sebring, USA, driving a Radical PR06 and 3rd in class in race 2 of the IMSA Light series, introducing the Radical PR6 at Lime Rock.USA.
In 2022, Slim was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and in 2023, after a rapid decline in health, he passed away.
Slim passed away on 23 February 2023, at the age of 76.
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