Thomas Rådström nicknamed "Rådis", is a rally and rallycross

Rallycross

Rallycross is a form of sprint style automobile racing, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built road cars, similar to the World Rally Cars, although usually with about stronger engines, due to e.g. their 45 mm turbo restrictor plates. It is...

 driver from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. He was one of the leading drivers of the National Swedish Rallycross Championship series during the second half of the 1980s. He then started rallying and competed in the World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

 for nine consecutive years during 1994–2002, and returned in 2006.

He won the Swedish Rally Championship in 1996, and his most significant international successes have been in his home event, the Swedish Rally

Swedish Rally

The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...

, which he won in 1994 when the event was not part of the WRC schedule. This was the first of four podiums and seven top ten finishes in nine attempts at this event.

He was a Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation

, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...

 works driver from 1991–98, before switching to Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 for a season, competing as the team's star signing Colin McRae

Colin McRae

Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...

's gravel and snow event wingman in the debut season of the Ford Focus WRC

Ford Focus WRC

The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...

. He returned to Toyota in 2000, and from 2001–02 was employed by the then Championship newcomers, Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

, with the exception of one outing in the Group A

Group A

In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...

 Lancer Evolution

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, colloquially known as the Lancer Evo or Evo, is a high-performance sedan manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of each model is most commonly a roman numeral...

 for Mitsubishi Ralliart at the 2001 Swedish Rally, where he finished second. He scored another podium, now aboard the Xsara WRC, in 2002: a third place on the gruelling Safari Rally

Safari Rally

The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...

, on his team's first visit to the event.

Between 2003 and 2007 Thomas Rådström drove a 500+bhp strong Hyundai Accent

Hyundai Accent

The Hyundai Accent , or Hyundai Verna in South Korea, is a subcompact car produced by Hyundai. In Australia, the first generation models carried over the Hyundai Excel name used by the Accent's predecessor. The Accent was replaced in 2000 by the Hyundai Verna in South Korea, although most...

 T16 4x4 in both, the Swedish Rallycross Championship (4th overall in 2006 as well as in 2007) and in the FIA European Rallycross Championship. His plans to continue driving Rallycross with a Hyundai i30

Hyundai i30

The Hyundai i30 is a small family car by South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company. The i30 shares its platform with the Kia cee'd, available as a five-door hatchback or estate, with a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines, either with manual or automatic transmissions.The i30 wagon is...

T16 4x4 were laid on ice, due to economical reasons.

External links

• Official website
• Driver profile, Rallybase.nl website