The World's Strongest Man Confirms WRC Debut in Rally Sweden

Usually, when one talks about strong men that go driving (race cars, that is), most of us think that the word “strong” refers to the individual's state of mind. Well apparently, that will have a whole new meaning during the upcoming Rally Sweden round in the World Rally Championship, as Magnus Samuelsson recently confirmed his participation in his home rally.

For those of you who are not very familiar with what exactly Magnus Samuelsson does for a living, know that he is a full-time farmer. However, this is not what made him famous over the past decade and a half, but the fact that he formerly won the World's Strongest Man competition back in 1998. In addition, he made the finals for no less than 14 times between 1995 and 2008, a world record in the history of the World's Strongest Man competition (having scored 5 podiums in the process).

According to the WRC official site, “Samuelsson will drive a 280bhp Group N specification Subaru Impreza on the rally, co-driven by Jorgen Carlsson.” Needless to say, this will be his first ever WRC experience, following some outings in the Swedish “Folkrace” series in the past.

“This is a boyhood dream come true. Just the thought to be on the starting line in the same competition as Sebastien Loeb and the other stars is breathtaking,” said Samuelsson, according to the WRC site.

“I've competed a lot with Folkrace, but this is obviously something completely different and new for me. I'm looking forward to getting the rally started, but before that I need to find a race-suit that will fit around my neck,” added the world's strongest man.

Another interesting information about Samuelsson is the fact that he recently won the Swedish version of the television series, Dancing with the Stars (in 2009).