Finnskoga MK announced in Karlstad today that Rally ace Per-Gunnar Andersson is going to drive the Swedish ERC round at Höljes with “Helga”, the former Škoda Fabia Mk1 of double ERC winner Lars Larsson.

Today, during the ‘Motormässa’ [Motorshow] at Karlstad in Sweden Höljes, organiser Finnskoga Motorklubb has officially released the news that Rally ace and current Proton factory driver “P-G” Andersson is this year’s guest star driver of their ERC round on June 30 and July 1. As ERC24 presumed in a news of May 2, Andersson is going to drive the first generation Škoda Fabia SuperCar by the nickname of “Helga” that Swede Lars “Stinsen” Larsson used to claim the European D1 titles of 2006 and 2007. The car was later owned by Belgian Jochen Coox who sold it last Winter back to Sweden, as a spare car for Peter Hedström. Hedström himself is driving the 2012 ERC with the Škoda Fabia Mk2 formerly owned by Michael Jernberg.

“I really must start with thanking Finnskoga MK and Peter Hedström for this great opportunity. This is a dream come true as it is something I thought about for a couple of years, but have not been able to realise yet. I’m truly grateful that they give me this chance now,” claimed Andersson in a statement to the Swedish press. “Yes, I did Folkrace for several years, but it is something completely different sneaking around a Folkrace track with 70 km/h or to use one of these SuperCars with much more horsepower for higher speed and great acceleration. The starts are extremely important and this will become the biggest challenge for me. The rest comes by itself while racing. However, I’m looking forward to it with both, excitement and nervousness,” said the Rally star laughing.

“P-G” Andersson (DOB 10.03.1980) started his motorsport career as a 15-year-old in Folkrace events, a Swedish inexpensive entry-level format of Rallycross. In 1999 he left the Folkrace tracks and took part in his first ever Rally. From 2004 to 2008 the Swede was a factory driver for Suzuki, in 2009 and 2010 he used Škoda Fabia WRCs and S2000s while rallying. In 2010 he won the SWRC scoring of the Rally Sweden, driving a Škoda Fabia S2000. Since 2011 Andersson is a factory driver for the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, currently competing with a Proton Satria Neo S2000 mainly in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) series, but also in selected rounds of the FIA Super2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC). Biggest success: “P-G” is a two-time winner of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC; 2004 with Suzuki Ignis S1600 and 2007 with Suzuki Swift S1600).