Anders Olofsson

Anders Olofsson (31 March 1952 – 22 January 2008) was a Swedish racing driver.[1]

Racing career

He won back-to-back Swedish Formula Three titles in 1977 and 1978 and finished runner-up in the European Formula Three Championship in the same seasons.

He won three consecutive Japanese Touring Car titles as a works Nissan driver and triumphed in the 1991 Spa 24 Hours, driving a Nissan Skyline with David Brabham and Naoki Hattori.

From 1988 to 1995, Anders competed six times in the Bathurst 1000 touring car race in Australia, all with Gibson Motorsport. He drove in the 1988 Tooheys 1000 with Glenn Seton in a Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R, though the pair failed to complete a lap after the gearbox broke when Seton changed from 2nd to 3rd gear only seconds after the rolling start (the same fate had befallen Seton and Olofsson on lap 3 of the Sandown 500 just 3 weeks earlier, the traditional lead in to Bathurst). In 1989 he returned, driving with George Fury in a HR31 Skyline to finish 4th. After a two year absence he returned for Winfield Racing (Gibson) in 1992 (the final year of Group A) in a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R to finish 3rd outright with television commentator turned racer Neil Crompton. Despite Australian touring car racing abandoning Group A at the end of 1992 and moving to a V8 formula, Olofsson was held in such regard by the Fred Gibson run team that he was invited to return in 1993 and finished 4th with David Brabham in a Holden VP Commodore and 1994 to drive with veteran Colin Bond (the 1969 race winner) to finish 6th in a VP Commodore. Olofsson's last Bathurst 1000 was again with the Gibson team in 1995 where he teamed with Steven Richards in a Holden VR Commodore to again finish 4th.

Olofsson finished second overall in the GT1 class of the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing a Gulf McLaren F1 with Jean-Marc Gounon and Pier-Henri Raphanel.

He retired from racing at the end of 1997 and worked in driver management with Swedish racers in the Swedish Touring Car Championship.

Death

Olofsson died in his sleep on 22 January 2008, aged 55.[2]

Career Results

Complete Spa 24 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1985 Sweden Magnum Racing Sweden Ulf Granberg
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson
Volvo 240T Div. 3 98 DNF DNF
1986 Belgium RAS Sport Venezuela Johnny Cecotto
Italy Mauro Baldi
Volvo 240T Div. 3 456 12th 7th
1987 Belgium Bastos Toyota Team Belgium Pierre-Alain Thibaut
Belgium Eric Bachelart
Toyota Supra 3.0i MA70 Div. 3 346 DNF DNF
1988 United Kingdom Nissan Motorsports Europe Australia Allan Grice
United Kingdom Win Percy
Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R Div. 3 482 6th 4th
1991 Japan Nismo Zexel Australia David Brabham
Japan Naoki Hattori
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R A/Div. 3 517 1st 1st
1992 Japan Nismo Australia David Brabham
Japan Masahiro Hasemi
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R A/Div. 3 102 DNF DNF

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1987 Japan Italya Sports France Alain Ferté
France Patrick Gonin
Nissan R86V C1 86 DNF DNF
1988 Japan Italya Sports
Japan Team Le Mans Co.
Italy Lamberto Leoni
Japan Akio Morimoto
March 88SNissan C1 69 DNF DNF
1989 Japan Team Le Mans Co.
France Courage Compétition
Japan Takao Wada
Japan Akio Morimoto
March 88SNissan C1 221 DNF DNF
1990 Japan Team Le Mans Japan Takao Wada
Brazil Maurizio Sandro Sala
Nissan R89C C1 182 DNF DNF
1991 France Courage Compétition United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries
Sweden Thomas Danielsson
Cougar C26SPorsche C2 45 DNF DNF
1996 Italy Ennea SRL Igol Italy Luciano Della Noce
Sweden Carl Rosenblad
Ferrari F40 GTE GT1 98 DNF DNF
1997 United Kingdom Gulf Team Davidoff
United Kingdom GTC Racing
France Jean-Marc Gounon
France Pierre-Henri Raphanel
McLaren F1 GTR GT1 360 2nd 1st

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 Australia Peter Jackson Nissan Racing Australia Glenn Seton Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R A 0 DNF DNF
1989 Australia Nissan Motorsport Australia Australia George Fury Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R A 160 4th 4th
1992 Australia Winfield Team Nissan Australia Neil Crompton Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R A 143 3rd 3rd
1993 Australia Winfield Racing Team Australia David Brabham Holden VP Commodore A 159 4th 4th
1994 Australia Winfield Racing Australia Colin Bond Holden VP Commodore A 161 6th 6th
1995 Australia Winfield Racing New Zealand Steven Richards Holden VR Commodore 161 4th 4th

References

  1. "Profile". mitorosso.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  2. English, Steven (24 January 2008). "Anders Olofsson dies aged 55". Autosport. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
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