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Background
Sweden has fared better F1-wise than Finland, Denmark, Norway |
For a region that has produced many of the greatest rally drivers of all time, it seems like an anomaly that Scandinavia has not spawned more F1 racers. Indeed, there is still yet to be a Grand Prix driver from Norway, whilst only four Danes and seven Finns have ever entered a World Championship event. Sweden has fared a little better, at least numerically. There have been nine Swedes in F1, and the 1970s were a golden period for Sweden in F1, coinciding with the Swedish GP being on the calendar. This was the era of tragic but talented figures like Gunnar Nilsson and the great Ronnie Peterson, and other capable pilots like Reine Wisell.
Another Swedish driver who, whilst not quite at the same level but has nonetheless been almost forgotten, was Torsten Palm from Kristenhamn near Karlskoga. In 1963, before he even turned 16, following in the footsteps of his brother Gunnar Palm, he navigated Erik Carlsson to 2nd place in the Swedish Rally in their Saab 96. Four years later, he teamed up with Simo Lampinen in a Saab 96 V4 to claim 2nd place again, this time behind the Lotus Cortina in which Gunnar had been navigating for Bengt Soderstrom. |
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1969-70
Soon scoring podiums in Swedish F3, wins the title the following year |
With other rallying experience in Volvos behind him, in 1969 Torsten acquired a Brabham and began competing in Swedish F3, then dominated by Peterson and Wisell. Wisell had won this title in 1967, and Peterson in 1968, but as Ronnie also swept to the 1969 championship, Palm was quick to make an impression. In both championship and non-championship events, he scored three 2nds behind Peterson, another 2nd behind Ingvar Pettersson, and two 3rds behind Peterson and Wisell.
Indeed, Palm even joined Peterson and Freddy Kottulinsky in the Swedish team that took out the 1969 F3 European Cup. And for 1970, with Peterson and Wisell moving on, despite his limited experience Palm assumed favouritism. He lived up to expectations too. In his Mennen Racing Team Brabham BT28 Nova, he won three of the four championship races, two of three other non-title events, comfortably took the Swedish F3 title with 21 points, and led the national team to a second consecutive European Cup. |
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1971
Becomes two-time Champion, heads abroad where the going's tougher |
For 1971, Palm began to venture abroad. Early in the year, Torsten took his Brabham to race in the Primeiro Torneio Brasileiro F3 events in Brazil. Aggregate results of 8th, 4th, 7th and 5th in the four events at Interlagos and Taruma showed that he could cut it overseas. Returning to Sweden, with his Mennen Brabham BT28 now powered by a Ford engine, he won at Knutstorp and Kinnekullering, and came 2nd at Anderstorp. That was enough for him to miss the last race at Falkenberg and still sew up a second title.
Palm also competed elsewhere in Europe, but there he found the going tougher. Perhaps this was to do with the fact that he had upgraded to an unfamiliar Brabham BT35. But at Paul Ricard, which doubled as the 9th rounds of the French and British F3 championships, he could only finish 20th, and then at Magny Cours he failed to qualify altogether. He also raced in the third round of the East German championship at Schleizer Dreieck, but failed to finish that event. |
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1972-73
Fourth and fifth year in Swedish F3, with less success |
But without the backing to progress further or race abroad more often, for 1972 Palm found himself trapped in Swedish F3 for a fourth season, and perhaps his motivation waned a little. Although he took another two wins, a hungrier Conny Andersson with only one win but also two 2nd places pipped Torsten to the title, 77 points to 70. Indeed, Palm continued on even into 1973, where limited appearances in his aging Brabham saw him slip to only 5th in the championship, behind eventual winner Hakan Dahlqvist.
Yet 1973 had finally seen Torsten move on. At first it was a case of back to the future, as Palm was reunited with Peterson to navigate for Ronnie in a Ford Escort in the KAK Rally in Sweden. Peterson epically drove through seven countries at night just to make it to the start, but they were forced into retirement early. But more importantly, Palm had found the budget to hire a second works Surtees TS15 Ford to compete in the three European F2 races in Sweden. |
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1973-74
Competitive in Euro F2, taking 6 points over two years |
At the Kinnekullering, he placed 3rd in the first heat, retired in the second, and was 7th overall. An average race at Mantorp Park was then followed up by 3rd place in heat 2, and 3rd outright in the final at Karlskoga, including fastest lap of the race, which showed that on circuits he knew well he was a match for anybody. One further start at the Salzburgring in a Team Pierre Robert GRD 274 BMW left Palm with 4 races in total, 4 points, and equal 21st in the European F2 title.
The Team Pierre Robert was sufficiently impressed to allow Palm back for four more races in 1974, and at Salzburgring and Karlskoga (where the team reverted him to an older GRD 273) Torsten scored a point each, whilst his efforts at Hockenheim and Mugello were also respectable. That left him equal 20th in the series with his two points. But, clearly, if he was to progress any further up the motor racing ladder, then he needed the sponsorship backing to do so, and thus far it had been a struggle. |
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1975 Hesketh Revolving door in Lord Alex's second car gives Torsten his chance |
Indeed, it has been said that in 1974 Graham Hill's Embassy Racing team had been keen to sign Palm up for a few races, with Torsten's friend Peterson acting as the intermediary, but Hill had been looking for a pay driver with a not-insubstantial wad of cash and Palm had simply been unable to muster up the finances. But another chance arose in 1975, when the Hesketh team starting renting out its second car as a way of raising money.
By the end of 1974, the patriotic but penniless outfit run by Lord Alexander Hesketh had demonstrated that its 308 chassis, designed by Harvey Postlethwaite, was a very potent weapon at the hands of James Hunt. What better way to conjure up some extra dollars, then, than to rent out a second car for paying customers throughout 1975, and offer to run it for them as well? During the year, the likes of Brett Lunger, Harald Ertl, and even Alan Jones took up the opportunity. |
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1975
Makes F1 debut at Monaco, a tough spot for any newbie |
With the help of personal sponsorship from Polar Caravans, Palm leased the drive in the second 308 for the Monaco and Swedish GPs, the seat at Anderstorp particularly secured by the fact that Polar Caravans was also title sponsor for the event. But after a day of testing at Silverstone, it was firstly off to Monte Carlo for the fifth round of the 1975 championship, but with only 18 of the 26 entrants allowed to start, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Swede, who had never raced on the streets before.
As it turned out, Palm did not disgrace himself, but his time of 1 minute, 31.95 seconds was 5.55 seconds off pole, 4.01s slower than Hunt, and 2.78s behind Jones who was 18th. Torsten was only 24th fastest, and thus did not make the grid. Yet the Swedish GP (round seven) was the one he was really building towards. A practice crash which damaged the front end of his Hesketh early in the weekend upset his preparations, but by the end of practice he had made it safely onto the grid in 21st position. |
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1975
Dicing with big names, taking top-10 finish before it all ends |
In fact, Torsten was only 3 seconds away from pole, and just over a second slower than Hunt, so it was a highly creditable effort. Then the race itself showed just what a local specialist he was. Setting the 18th fastest lap of the race, his afternoon's work was cut short when he ran out of fuel on the last lap, when he had been mixing it with the likes of Jody Scheckter, Emerson Fittipaldi and Peterson just outside the points. He was eventually officially classified in 10th position, 2 laps down on the victorious Niki Lauda.
For a local driver in an unfamiliar rented car to be dicing with such names was a moral triumph in itself, although presumably much of that was down to his knowledge of the Anderstorp track. How well would he have fared in F1 on circuits outside of his homeland, in competitive machinery? One can only speculate, for after these two appearances Palm's tenure in the second Hesketh, and his sponsorship money, came to an end, and with it Torsten's short-lived Grand Prix career. |
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1976-70s
Becomes manager for up and coming Swede Eje Elgh |
It must have been as disheartening then as it is now for a driver of no-little ability such as Palm to realise that his road to F1 success was obstructed by a lack of financial clout. Having tasted F1, and at 28 no longer young enough to force his way in by ability alone, Torsten temporarily hung up his helmet. For example, he was entered for the German F3 round at Hockenheim in 1976 in a Ralt RT1 Toyota, but he did not end up attending. He had switched instead to driver management.
Palm took under his wing a fellow Swede, Eje Elgh, who was showing the kind of promise in junior categories that marked him out for future stardom. But Elgh's career proved as luckless as his mentor's. He competed in F2 for several seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s, finishing 4th in the title in 1981 and taking several wins along the way. He had even tested a McLaren F1 car in 1979, but the permanent Grand Prix race drive never came his way, money perhaps being a stumbling block yet again. |
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1992-95
Returns to behind the wheel in WRC Swedish Rally |
Instead, Elgh found himself a home in prototype sports car racing throughout the 1980s, and by the end of that decade and the early 1990s he had left Europe to compete in Japan instead. All this time Palm had predominantly stayed away from the wheel, but in 1992 he decided to return to his roots, entering the World Championship Swedish Rally in a Group N Lancia Delta Integrale 16V with Erik Sundblad as his co-driver. In a respectable return to competition, he placed 20th overall, and 8th in class.
He teamed up with Sundblad again the next year, this time finishing 17th overall, and 7th in Group N. In 1995, he raced in the Swedish Clio Cup at Mantorp Park, coming 10th, and in a club rally in 1997, as navigator for Lars Jonsson in a Porsche 911, they placed 58th outright. But with the local Kristinehamn karting trophy named after him, and with his thriving dealership and garage business to look after, these were no more than fleeting appearances for fun as his competitive career finally came to a close. |
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