Swedish Rally woman Ramona Karlsson has announced to work on a 2014 World Rallycross Championship programme.
Swedish Ramona Karlsson is one of the shining female stars in nowadays motorsports. So far she is rated to be one of the fastest women in the history of rallying. But for next year she has set her focus on the inaugural World Rallycross Championship (WRX). The 32-years-old looks forward to be the only woman at the start lines of the new FIA series.
“Rallycross with its arena format offers easy access to spectators, media and sponsors. The sport attracts me very much and I like the explosiveness of it. It has extremely fast cars and everything happens in a very short time, this may suit me a lot. My early background and my later rallying experience should be of great advantage, and I feel that time is ripe for the next step in my career. I did Rallycross in the Swedish national junior category and have won two bronze medals by then [1998 and 1999 in a 1400cc Group N Citroën AX GTI],” claims Karlsson, who also competed in the year 2000 with a Group N Saab 9-3 in the Division 2 of the SRC before changing to rallying in 2001.
Ramona Karlsson started with racing already at the age of 12 and has ever since been very successful. She claimed national and international recognition and in 2012 became the first Swedish woman in the World Rally Championship. Her co-driver was Miriam Walfridsson, the daughter of a cousin to “Stecka” Walfridsson’s late father Helmer. During the WRC round of New Zealand they won several stages and were on a promising second place overall in the Production Car section when their Mitsubishi Lancer E10 caught fire and burned down. This year Karlsson had an impressive comeback in the World Rally Championship as well as in her native Swedish Rally Championship, where she won the silver medal in the top class, a result setting a new benchmark in Sweden’s motorsport history. “It is an honour to be of historical importance and I love to win. Next year I intend to work even harder,” says Karlsson.
Photo: Karlsson on October 6 at the Kinnekulle Ring, during a test drive with a Ford Fiesta Mk7 SuperCar of OMSE. © QBA/ERC24