Stig Blomqvist: PH Meets
Forget that other Stig - PH meets the real one and rides shotgun in a Sport Quattro with him
Be careful leaving your car with a Swedish garage...
Stig's story
While I'm watching his feet dance on the pedals, left foot braking everywhere, I can't help but wonder how you get to tame one of these monsters. Stig's story is incredible.
"I started driving when I was 10," he says, like it's a totally normal occurrence. The only thing telling me he knows it's not is a wry Scandinavian smirk breaking across his lips as his sing-song Swedish speech rhythm adds even more colour to the tale.
Passenger seat quickly taken by PH's man
He could barely reach the pedals or see over the wheel, but that didn't stop him. By the time he was 12, Blomqvist was co-driving for his dad. But again, not being able to see over the dash meant it was difficult to call the notes. That didn't last long.
"All I wanted to do was drive. When I was 15 I used to go driving in the forests in my rally car after school for around four or five hours - until the light went and we couldn't see where we were going. The headlights weren't as good back then."
Stig's been doing this since he was a nipper
Naturally, a career in motorsport beckoned, and after much front-wheel drive experience with Saab, Stig signed for Audi in 1982.
"The early Quattros didn't have a centre diff," he tells me. "I started working with the engineers on the front diff to help improve the handling, changing ramp angles and things. Straight away I was faster than Hannu [Mikkola] and Michele [Mouton], so they had to make the same changes just to keep up."
The drivetrain on later cars was more sophisticated, inheriting a centre diff, but the Audi always maintained one key characteristic according to Blomqvist: reliability. He did the whole of the 1983 British season only changing brake pads.
It was also easy to drive, even with the bonkers Group B class's lairy reputation. "I let the car do the work. Obviously the four-wheel drive helped, but you could lean on it to help you out."
Events were as demanding as the cars in the day
"Nowadays you run eight or nine stages two or three times, so the drivers can memorise parts of the stages for the second or third time round. Back then you had to do it totally blind and needed very good pace notes."
Which brings him onto another interesting tale. One year at the Ivory Coast rally, Blomqvist turned up to the start line having not recce'ed the event. Using Mikkola's English notes with Cederberg's limited vocab helping translate into Swedish as he read them, having never even seen the stage before Stig was 30 seconds faster than Hannu through the first 20km.
Well, it'd be a waste to leave it in a museum
Excuse me
Crawling round the access roads to the stage, the Audi just seemed heavy and docile to the point where I was wondering if Group B was just a lot of nostalgic wittering from those who thought it was better in their day.
I was wrong. Check the vid below, but from the moment we make a 90 right into the stage and Blomqvist lights up the 500hp 2.1-litre five-pot turbo and all four wheels, any idea this thing wouldn't stab you in the back evaporates. And this is where I have to apologise.
Opportunity of a lifetime; one not wasted
Watch the video to get the best idea, but the stabs at the throttle and armfuls of lock to keep it in check at even a relatively sedate pace was still mightily impressive. And the noise was epic.
Legend is a word that's over-used. But here, Blomqvist certainly qualifies as one. That's riding next to a World Rally champion in a Group B car checked off my bucket list, then.
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Ditto.
I couldn't help but grin like an idiot when that soulful engine sparked up and despite the poor audio it was a doddle to tell that all wheels were spinning under the strain.
In one PH homepage there's some babbling about some s
tty new BMW models but then you have the Elan, This, Morgan and Mustang (err maybe not) all before my time but even so infinitely better than the modern tripe we're force fed. (Mclaren aside).And how they currently have nothing like it.
I was trying to recall whether he was WRC in 83 or 84 - Google reveals it was 84.
I know times change and we have to move on, but why did Audi bottle it and not make the current A5 shape coupe into a ur quattro for the 21st century? A one make rally championship perhaps? Maybe a mixed surface series across a few European countries? I find it very sad that Audi drags their priceless ex works cars out (with equally legendary ex World Champions)just to undertake demonstration runs to journalists.
I'm at my desk having some lunch writing this and don't really know where this is going - just frustrated I guess.
What also needs to be considered are the 'early 1970's' when he used to take unbelievable chunks of special stage time out of drivers such as Bjorn Waldegard, Roger Clark, Hannu Mikkola, Timo Makinen etc, in their 200-plus BHP machines whilst Stig had a max of 175 BHP in the front-wheel drive works Saab 96.
Awesomely experienced and astonishingly talented driver.
early 70s RAC at Cirencester Park. A younger hairier me marshalling. Various cars come buy. Most on the road. Then a Saab 96 with Sir Stig of Blomquist at the wheel. The car approaches the bend at which we were stood (on the inside of course). Ooh, leaving the braking a bit late. Car yaws under braking multiple times with mean direction still toward the corner. Last yaw opposite to corner direction. And he makes it round. My introduction to the Scandie flick.
By far the most flamboyant yet quick car of the day,
regards,
Jet
And as much as I like Sportscars, there is something wrong with the adverts Audi run; 'Le Mans; Home of Quattro'
I'm sorry, but the home of Quattro is a special stage; they've been in Sportscars longer than they were in WRC, but I'd wager that Quattro is still associated with Rallying than a racetrack.
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