Carl Rydquist
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Carl Rydquist is a Swedish-American eight-time auto racing champion (FIA, Trans-Am), a SAG-AFTRA on-camera stunt and precision driver and a Nurburgring Industry Pool driver. Rydquist beat more than 1,100 racers in a go-kart challenge created by Eurosport to promote their Super Racing Weekend FIA GT and ETCC sports coverage.
Rydquist won the Zandvoort 500 during the 2005 Dutch Winter Championship, making him the first of only three Swedish drivers to ever win this race, following three successful seasons in the Swedish Endurance Racing Cup which earned him two GT-class titles (2001 and 2004).
Racing career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Rydquist began his racing career with sports car club racing in 1996 with his father's Lotus Super Seven Replica, going on to win the Göteborg Sports Car Club racing championship in 2000.
In 2001, Rydquist qualified as the fastest driver during the Eurosport Super Racing Weekend Challenge. The qualifier has more than 1100 drivers competing. Rydquist's first-place laptime secured a spot in the Top 32 driver roster. In the final 6-driver heat, Rydquist took 3rd place, with professional racing star Peter Dumbreck and karting racer Fredrik Danielsson coming in front. Rydquist was later invited to test for the Swedish GT racing team, Apex Racing. The test was successful. Rydquist brought the Apex Racing Porsche 964 RS to the 2001 Swedish Endurance Cup season through four 8H and 12H races, claiming 1 pole position and 1 victory. Rydquist also took 2nd place in the 2001 Endurance Racing Cup (Touring cars) season finale.
In 2002 and 2003, Rydquist visited the one-spec Swedish Junior Touring Car Challenge with MH Motorsport in a front-wheel driven Volvo S40 JTCC car. Rydquist won a podium position after taking 4th in two earlier heats in the JTCC. In the Radical Scandinavian Sports Racing Car Challenge, Rydquist took a podium finish in his first race. In 2003, Rydquist qualified an ex-BTCC BMW M3 in 3rd place in a Swedish Endurance Racing Series event.
Rydquist was back full-time in the 2004 Swedish Endurance Racing Cup with MV Racing's Porsche 993 RSR. Rydquist broke four official class lap records, took two pole positions, and won three out of six 3-hour races. In 2005, Rydquist won the premiere 3-hour race of the season, piloting MV Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the Swedish Endurance Racing series, which was officially dubbed the National Swedish Endurance Racing Championship. Rydquist was invited by Loehr Racing at the end of 2005 to race in the Zandvoort 500 in the team's Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Rydquist raced with teammates Martin Morin and Bernard Loehr. In 2006, Rydquist went to race in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Nordschleife. The team salvaged a 9th-place finish in class.
2007–2012
[edit]In 2007, the team was in the top 10 until a teammate had an on-track accident at night. In 2008, Rydquist qualified side by side with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Gumpert Apollo. In 2009, the team landed a sponsorship contract with Hankook Tire, but their race ended with an engine problem. In 2010, Rydquist won the Redline Time Attack Championship by 4 victories and 3 podium finishes racing the City Tire Online Nissan 350Z. Rydquist set a new track lap record for his class at Willow Springs International Raceway. In 2011, Rydquist won a 2nd-place finish in a one-off visit to the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship. An electrical glitch during the closing stages of the race happened; however, when the engine restarted, Rydquist got 2nd place.
Rydquist celebrated his 5th start in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Nordschleife race in 2011, racing for German Steam Racing. The team's race ended early when a co-driver had a collision. Rydquist finished 2nd in September in the Porsche class and 8th overall. Upon his return from Barcelona, Rydquist was drafted by Santa Ana-based Berk Technology to set up and race their BMW 135i in the 2011 Eurotuner GP and the 2011 Super Lap Battle finals. Rydquist won the Eurotuner GP road course shootout.
2013–2017
[edit]In 2015, Rydquist returned to sports car racing with German Mercedes-Benz dealer team Motorsport Sing, piloting their SLK 350R in the VLN series at the Nurburgring. He was in a collaboration with Utah-based Competition Associates Sport (CA Sport). He placed 5th in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.
Rydquist went on to race the team's #34 Nissan 370Z Nismo Touring Car in the season opener of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge at Circuit of the Americas. Rydquist captured 3rd in the first race. The #34 car was retired at the halfway mark due to an oil leak. Rydquist also joined thr California-based Prototype Development Group for a full-season campaign in the 2016 National Auto Sport Association Endurance Racing Championship. In 2016, Rydquist drove in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill with the same car he had raced in the NASA endurance season. Racing with former top 3 finishers, Mike Holland, Beau Borders and Troy Lindstrom, Rydquist and the team's main competitors were Flying Lizards Porsche 997 GT3 RSR and Audi R8 GT3 LMS, as well as a Lamborghini Super Trofeo campaigned by CLP Motorsports. Halfway into the race Rydquist and his teammates were running 3rd in the ES (GT) class. Later in the race, a rear balljoint failure dropped the team out of contention for a top-10 finish.
In 2017, Rydquist won the Touring Car Championship title in the Grand Touring (GT) class. Rydquist raced the team's Factory Five Racing GTM. He took the GT class and won the season opener, a rain race at Laguna Seca. He then went on to claim second place at Auto Club Speedway before winning again both at Sonoma Raceway and at the series' second visit to Laguna Seca.
2018–2023
[edit]In 2018, he raced with Holland, Borders and Lindstrom in the Prototype Development Group's #4 Factory Five Racing GTM featuring Hankook Tire as the title sponsor. The team challenged the Toyo Tires Flying Lizard Porsche 997 RSR piloted by Wolf Henzler, Johannes van Overbeek, Justin Marks, Charlie Hayes and Andy Wilzoch for the ES class pole. Rydquist and his team claimed 2nd in the ES class and 3rd overall behind the Porsche (ES) and One Motorsports Hankook Tire Radical SR3 (ESR).
In the 2020 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship, Rydquist competed in the SGT category driving the Prototype Development Group's Factory Five Racing GTM. Rydquist won every race the team entered. He won a podium finish in a rain race at Sonoma, where he finished third behind Greg Pickett and Thomas Merrill in TA and TA2 category Ford Mustangs. In 2023, Rydquist returned to the United States Touring Car Championship GT class alongside Indycar at the Grand Prix of Portland. Piloting the Optimal Stunt TA2 Chevrolet Camaro. Rydquist suffered a driveshaft failure in qualifying, forfeiting pole position and sitting out the first race of the doubleheader. In the second race, Rydquist was the overall winner.
Drifting career
[edit]Rydquist became interested in drifting upon moving to California. He practiced with his personal Nissan 350Z before entering the Just Drift series in 2008 with the same car, finishing the season in 8th place. Rydquist earned a sponsorship from City Tire Online and a seat in Formula D. In 2009, Rydquist entered three FD competition events where he qualified for the Top 32 at Long Beach and received one vote for One-More-Time in the Top 32 tandem battle against reigning FD champion Tanner Foust.
In Rydquist's second FD event at Road Atlanta, the FD judges requested two tandem battles between Rydquist and drifting veteran Darren MacNamara before deciding which driver to move on to the Top 16. By Round 3 in Las Vegas, Rydquist qualified in 7th place. In 2013, Rydquist entered Formula Drift with a Nissan 350Z formerly driven by Robbie Nishida. Rydquist spent a season on the development of the Nissan, and by 2014, the car was equipped with a Chevy LS2 V8 campaigned by Road Race Engineering. Rydquist claimed a drifting podium at Round 3 Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Other appearances
[edit]Rydquist is a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) as a stunt driver, and has been hired to drive in commercial shoots for multiple car manufacturers as well as magazines in Europe and the US. Rydquist has engaged in and attended several charities such as Grants Wishes, STOP CANCER and Reach Out World Wide.
In 2019, Rydquist was identified at the Nurburgring by car magazines (Auto Motor und Sport, Car and Driver and Road & Track) as one of three drivers along with Andreas Simonsen and Thomas Mutsch to set an electric vehicle lap record by driving Tesla's car named Plaid. Rydquist raced in the 2020 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli esports championship which was live broadcast and featured a $20,000 prize purse. The sim racing championship involved drivers from all Trans Am categories (TA, TA2, SGT, GT) and championships (National, West Coast). He held 5th place in the championship points standings.
Personal life
[edit]Carl Rydquist grew up in the suburbs of Gothenburg on the Swedish West Coast. He earned a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology. Rydquist has been working as an OEM test engineer and test driver for many car companies and holds a Nürburgring Industry Pool driver permit.
Carl currently resides in California and enjoys sports such as running in his free time.