Lewis Hamilton hits the recording studio between races and sets his sights on a music career beyond the track. Whether he’ll be as successful at music as he is at racing who knows. But there’s nothing new in the crossover between F1 and music. In the 80’s, when Slim Borgudd wasn’t racing he was the session drummer in one of the biggest groups in the world – ABBA.
Money, Money, Money
Tommy ‘Slim’ Borgudd was having great success in the late 60s in Sweden as drummer in Grammy award nominated group, Made in Sweden. Plus drumming for the Hootenanny Singers – who just happened to have Bjorn Ulvaeus (soon to be one quarter of ABBA) as a member.
Arrival
Borgudd was also dabbling with a career in racing, driving a Lotus Formula Ford car. By the 70s his racing career was taking off with a runner-up place in the Swedish Touring Car Championship and a win in the Scandinavian Formula Ford series. But Borgudd still found time for his passion for music and he hitched a ride with Ulvaeus in 1972 when he formed supergroup ABBA.
I have a dream
Borgudd finally made it into F1 in 1981 at the San Marino Grand Prix driving for ATS – his car adorned with ABBA logos on the side pods. He made 10 F1 starts over the next two years and scored a point in the 1981 British GP.
After being hired and then dumped by Tyrrell in 1982, Borgudd dipped in and out of motor sport. He raced at Le Mans in 1987 and won a championship title in the Nordic Touring Car Championship in 1994.
The winner takes it all
Then in 1995 Slim Borgudd raced in the Truck Racing Cup. After a season long dogfight reigning champion Steve Parish met his Waterloo and Borgudd won the title. But two years later he announced his retirement after accusing Mercedes-Benz of favouring other drivers.
Slim Borgudd now lives in Coventry.
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