Swedish Rally 1983
Round 2 of the 1983 World Rally Championship · 11–13 February 1983
Audi filled the top four places in Sweden, with Hannu Mikkola leading from the first stage to the last.
Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)
The Swedish Rally 1983 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Snow and ice roads through the forests of Värmland.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi 80 Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Opel Ascona 400 (Rothmans Opel Rally Team)
- #3 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A1 (Audi Sport)
- #4 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro A1 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth — Saab 99 Turbo (SAAB Sport & Rally)
- #7 Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala — Audi Quattro A1 (Lasse Lampi)
- #8 Jens Sogaard / Arne Eikasen — Opel Ascona 400 (Jens Sogaard)
- #11 Kalle Grundel / Rolf Melleroth — Volkswagen Golf GTI (VW Motorsport Sweden)
Audi filled the top four places in Sweden, with Hannu Mikkola leading from the first stage to the last.
How the rally unfolded
Lancia stayed away from the snow, and the Quattros had no serious opposition. Mikkola led all 25 stages and beat Stig Blomqvist by 47 seconds. Blomqvist was driving an Audi 80 quattro on this occasion. Lasse Lampi was third in a private Quattro and Michèle Mouton fourth.
Kalle Grundel was the best non-Audi driver, fifth in a Group A Volkswagen Golf GTI, with Ari Vatanen sixth in the Opel Ascona 400. Like the Ivory Coast, the Swedish Rally counted only for the drivers’ championship in 1983.
The decisive moment
There was no real turning point: Mikkola was fastest from the start and Audi’s four-wheel drive did the rest.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A1 | Audi Sport | B | 4:28:47 |
| 2 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi 80 Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +0:47 |
| 3 | 7 | Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala | Audi Quattro A1 | Lasse Lampi | B | +4:04 |
| 4 | 4 | Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons | Audi Quattro A1 | Audi Sport | B | +5:09 |
| 5 | 11 | Kalle Grundel / Rolf Melleroth | Volkswagen Golf GTI | VW Motorsport Sweden | A | +9:46 |
| 6 | 2 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Opel Ascona 400 | Rothmans Opel Rally Team | B | +11:51 |
| 7 | 24 | Sören Nilsson / Anders Olsson | Nissan Bluebird Turbo | Philipsson-Datsun | A | +13:01 |
| 8 | 32 | Mikael Ericsson / Bo Thorszelius | Audi 80 Coupe | Team Audi Sport Sverige | A | +13:08 |
| 9 | 20 | Lars-Erik Walfridsson / Lars Backman | Renault 5 Turbo | MK Ratten | B | +15:29 |
| 10 | 23 | Ola Strömberg / Bruno Berglund | Saab 99 Turbo | SAAB Sport & Rally | A | +16:25 |
Retirements of note
- #5 Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth (Saab 99 Turbo) — head gasket, stage 3
- #8 Jens Sogaard / Arne Eikasen (Opel Ascona 400) — ignition, stage 4
- #12 Stasis Brundza / Arvidas Girdauskas (Lada 2105) — head gasket, stage 4
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1983 season overview
- All 1983 rallies
- Previous round: Monte Carlo Rally 1983
- Next round: Rally de Portugal 1983
- Cars: Audi Quattro
- Teams: Audi Sport
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1983
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (March 1983): The Swedish Rally EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's March 1983 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1983 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1983 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Swedish Rally EN · archive
History of the Swedish Rally with its list of winners over the decades. - Rally Sweden (official site) EN · event
Today's organiser of the Swedish Rally, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Swedish Rally 1983: event page — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1983.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1983_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1983_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1983_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1983 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_World_Rally_Championship
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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