Having started her racing career at the age of 12, she won the Swedish Crosskart Championship twice. In 2000, she took part in her 1st rally and in 2012 was part of 6 PWRC rounds in the championship’s first all-female team. In 2013, Karlsson was named Swedish rally driver of the year.
Henning Solberg will join Karlsson in the two-car team. The Saab 93 Supercars are the only Saab models in this year’s World Championship, and join a a vast range of marquees such as Citroen, Audi, Skoda and Renault competing alongside official manufacturer backed entries in World RX including Peugeot, Ford and Volkswagen.
“It feels great to be working with Per Eklund – one of Sweden’s top racing drivers,” explained 33-year-old Karlsson. “The team has a lot of experience and the Supercar class is where the most extreme rallycross cars are so I’m excited to be involved. I’m obviously looking to fight with the top drivers and it’s good that I’m able to score both Euro RX and World RX points this year. I can’t wait to get the season underway in Portugal.”
Team owner Per Eklund added, “It’s really exciting to have Ramona in our team this year. She’s already proved how quick she is in a rally car and now rallycross is her next challenge. We’ve previously invested in young Finland’s Topi Heikkinen when he was new in rallycross – and now look where he is. Ramona is the first female in World RX and it will be interesting to follow her development this year.”
“Adding Ramona and Henning to our driver line-up in 2014 is more fantastic news for our Championship,” said Martin Anayi, Managing Director of the FIA World Rallycross Championship for IMG Motorsport – a division of IMG. “With the opening round in Portugal just over a month away, all the teams are now in their final preparations for what is expected to be an extremely competitive year of racing ahead. Ramona is a very talented driver and of course it’s encouraging to have another car marque in the form of Saab on the grid. I’m also pleased to hear that Henning will join us again this year, he is one of the most technically astute drivers out there and of course it will be interesting to watch the sibling rivalry between himself and Petter.”
