Goran Larsson

Halmstad, Sweden

**Göran Larsson** (born 10th September 1976) is a Swedish racing driver, who previously competed in Formula One.

## **Early Life**

Larsson was born in Halmstad on 10th September 1976. His father Otto Larsson was born in Finland, making Göran 50% Finnish.

Göran excellled at school. He enjoyed history but also enjoyed maths and physics like his father, Otto Larsson. He originally planned to become a pilot due to the proximity of his house to the airport and his love of planes but he later decided to focus on racing. Larsson later admitted that when he started school he was bullied because of his looks.

## Racing Career

Göran found out about racing in 1979 when a local rally was taking place. He instantly fell in love with motorsport and his family bought a kart for him when they had enough money. Göran would participate in races around Sweden with some success. Due to his early success he would get sponsors from companies such as Volvo. His sponsorship from Volvo allowed him to continue racing. However, at 19 he would be forced to stop racing to complete military service for two years.

After coming back from the break at 21 he would join his first open-wheel series. Göran was not succesful as first due to his two year break from racing, but gradually adjusted to driving again. In the 1998 season Göran would pick up a win and several podiums. Despite this, he suffered a series of crashes throughout the season due to making mistakes. At 23, Göran caught a lucky break when the legendary racing driver and team owner Chuck Dingley watched a race featuring Göran. This was the most succesful race for Göran as he would dominate with a 15 second gap and after starting from pole with a brilliant qualifying lap. Dingley was reportedly impressed by this and Göran would continue in the lower classes for now.

At the age of 24 he got called up to race in F1 for Dingley GP. Dingley had fired Michael Crawford for poor performance, and was interested for Göran to join the Dingley team for the rest of the 2000 season. Larsson's sponsorship was also reportedly a factor in his decision. Göran was due to make his debut in Monaco but the race was later cancelled due to Storm Ronald. The next event at Hockenheim would be his first race and it did not go well. He was disqualified from the race due to a technical infringement as his teammate Katashi Kimura would go on to win the race, taking the team's first ever Grand Prix victory. Larsson would fail to finish the next four races due to a number of crashes and mechanical failures.

### 2008

Larsson crashed out of the opening race in Australia, before going on to miss the following race in Bahrain. He would call a press conference shortly after the Bahrain GP weekend to announce that he was retiring from Formula One due to being diagnosed with cancer.

## Personal Life

Göran would be unsuccessful with love or marriage. He lived mostly alone and travelled to Halmstad to meet his parents when he wasn't racing. In his free time in Halmstad he would fly airplanes at the local airport. Göran usually would participate in local rallies and go to Anderstorp to race. Göran has always been close to his family and usually invite them to races he participates in.

His father enjoys racing too and usually participates as a co-driver with Göran. As Göran was a single child he would mostly be alone when his parents are not with him. He would not interact much with other drivers in the F1 paddock as he has admitted to being shy and introverted. Göran's has only usually given extremely short interviews as he prefers to stay away from the press.

Göran also frequents bars and pubs in his free time and has boasted that he can outdrink all of his friends, saying ''It's my finnish blood."