Waldegård was born on 12 November 1943 and hailed from Rimbo, Sweden. He began his competitive career in 1962. Before reaching the international stage, he established himself in his home country by winning the Swedish Rally Championship in consecutive years, 1967 and 1968.
Waldegård’s first international victory occurred at the 1969 Monte Carlo Rally while driving a Porsche 911. By the mid-1970s, he had expanded his competitive reach into the newborn European Championship for Rallycross Drivers. Competing in a privately entered Porsche Carrera RSR, his best overall result was to become the Runner-up to Austrian Franz Wurz, father of Alexander Wurz, of the 1974 Embassy European Rallycross Championship.
During the 1970s, Waldegård drove for the Alitalia-backed Lancia team. His tenure there was defined by a rivalry with Italian teammate Sandro Munari, as the team frequently chose between the two star drivers. In late 1976, Waldegård moved to Ford.
Driving Ford Escort RS1800 models in 1977, Waldegård won three of the most grueling events on the calendar: the East African Safari Rally, the Acropolis Rally, and the RAC Rally.
His most significant achievement came in 1979 during the inaugural World Rally Championship for drivers. Competing for both Ford and Mercedes-Benz throughout the season, the title race came down to the final round at the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire. Although his rival Hannu Mikkola won the event, Waldegård finished second, securing enough points to claim the world title.
The 1976 Rallye Sanremo served as a turning point in Waldegård's career. Entering the final stage, Waldegård held a four-second lead over his teammate Munari. He was forced to squander that advantage in keeping with the team's hopes for an 'equal' shootout. Waldegård, however, emerged as victor by four seconds, having disobeyed team orders and overtaken Munari – as a result, Waldegård left Lancia and joined Ford in late 1976.
Waldegård continued to compete at the highest level of rallying until 1992. His professional career ended abruptly during the 1992 Safari Rally, where a crash resulted in a broken arm that forced his retirement.
In September 2008, he participated in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally in Perth, Scotland, driving a Porsche 911.
Björn Waldegård died of cancer on 29 August 2014 at the age of 70.
Waldegård’s victory at the 1990 Safari Rally for Toyota made him the oldest driver to win a World Rally Championship event, a record he retained until the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally. His career is documented in the Swedish-language publication Björn Waldegård – Rally blev mitt liv, co-authored with Gerhard Karlsson in 1994.
In 1970, Waldegård made a one-off appearance in sports car endurance racing at the Targa Florio in Sicily, the oldest motor race in the world at the time. The Targa Florio was more or less a rally-type race on a closed circuit made up of public roads, hence the reason for Waldegård's one-off drive with Porsche. Sharing a factory supported, John Wyer-entered Porsche 908/3 with Briton Richard Attwood, he finished fifth.
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