Hans Thorszelius

Björn Waldegård’s co-driver for his 1979 world title and for three Toyota wins in the Group B years, most of them on Africa’s toughest rallies.

3
WRC wins 1982–86
6
podiums
17
starts
1979
world title
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Episode 8 — The Architects: Fiorio, Todt, Gumpert, Turner & the People Behind Group B

The people behind Group B, including the co-drivers.

Career

Born in Uppsala on 19 February 1944, Thorszelius won the 1979 drivers’ title with Björn Waldegård. With Waldegård at Toyota he won Rally New Zealand 1982, the 1983 Ivory Coast Rally and the 1984 Safari Rally, and was second on the Safari and the Ivory Coast in 1985.

From 1986 Fred Gallagher took over as Waldegård’s co-driver; Thorszelius’s only world championship start that year was the Olympus Rally with Steve Millen.

He should not be confused with Bo Thorszelius, who co-drove Lars-Erik Torph in 1986 and Mikael Ericsson and Kenneth Eriksson on earlier Swedish Rallies.

Statistics on this page cover world championship rallies from January 1982 to December 1986, excluding the annulled 1986 Rallye Sanremo, and are counted from the entry lists and results in Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. ‘Starts’ means appearances on an entry list.

Waldegård’s co-driver for the 1979 title and three Toyota wins.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the co-driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982
1win
2 podiums
1983
1win
1 podium
1984
1win
1 podium
1985
0wins
2 podiums
1986
0wins
0 podiums

3 WRC wins · 6 podium finishes, 1982–1986

More from Co-drivers

Fabrizia PonsMouton's co-driver: three wins in 1982, and the Halda Trophy.Read more →Arne HertzMikkola's co-driver for the 1983 title, with 20 podiums in the Group B years.Read more →Christian GeistdörferRöhrl's co-driver for two titles and four Monte Carlo wins.Read more →Maurizio PerissinotBettega's co-driver, who survived the 1985 Corsica accident.Read more →Bruno Berglund1980 Swedish Rally winner, and Blomqvist's co-driver at Peugeot in 1986.Read more →Tiziano SivieroBiasion's co-driver: European champion in 1983, first world win in Argentina 1986.Read more →

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (SV), Hans Thorszelius — https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Thorszelius
  2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), results and entry lists 1982–1986 — https://www.juwra.com/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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