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Carl Rydquist (born 1977 in Goteborg) is a Swedish racing driver and a SAG-AFTRA licensed stunt and precision driver who has won many auto races, the most famous to date the Zandvoort 500. Rydquist competes in both racing and drifting. In Rydquist's auto racing career, he currently has a victory in nearly one out of three races and podium finishes in two out of three Touring and GT car endurance and sprint races. 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, 2004). This was the starting point of his international career in Europe and the USA. == Racing career == Rydquist began his racing career with sports car club racing in 1996-2000 with his father's Lotus Super Seven Replica. Rydquist gained racing experience and won the Goteborg Sports Car Club racing championship in 2000. In 2001, Rydquist earned his break into professionally organized racing by qualifying as the fastest driver during a weeklong gocart race (Eurosport Super Racing Weekend Challenge). The qualifying held at the 2001 Goteborg Auto Show saw more than 1100 drivers battling for a spot in the pro finals to compete against professional racing and karting champions. Rydquist's #1 laptime automatically secured a spot in the Top 32 driver roster. Through the bracket of 6-driver heats, Rydquist continued to beat all present professional racedrivers and karting aces, until the final 6-driver heat where Rydquist took 3rd place, with professional racing star Peter Dumbreck and karting racer Fredrik Danielsson in first and second places. Shortly following the race, Rydquist was invited to test for the professionally operated Swedish GT racing team Apex Racing, a branch of Elgh Motorsport, co-owned and operated by professional racedrivers and Le Mans veterans. The test went successful and Rydquist brought the Apex Racing Porsche 964 RS to a GT-class victory in the 2001 Swedish Endurance Cup season through four 8H and 12H races, claiming 1 pole position and 1 victory in his maiden national GT racing season. Rydquist also took 2nd place in the 2001 Endurance Racing Cup (Touring cars) season finale in a BMW 320i. 2002 and 2003 saw now Champion-sponsored Rydquist visit the one-spec series Swedish Junior Touring Car Challenge with MH Motorsport in a front-wheel driven Volvo S40 JTCC car as well as adding ground-effects experience to his merits when racing in the Scandinavian Sports Racing Car Challenge. Rydquist's laptimes in the JTCC Volvo topped those of his two teammates in his first practice and in his second race weekend he won a podium position after taking 4th in two earlier heats. Rydquist also collected more points during his second weekend in JTCC than both his teammates. Racing a Radical the Scandinavian Sports Racing Car Challenge, Rydquist set faster laptimes than both of his teammates and took a podium finish in his first race weekend in this car type (in his 2nd event Rydquist made an advancement to 8th from 16th starting position stemming from mechanical failure in qualifying). In 2003 Rydquist also qualified an ex-BTCC BMW M3 in 3rd place in a Swedish Endurance Racing Series event. In 2004, Rydquist was back full-time in the 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 on the way to winning an overall Swedish 3H Endurance Racing Cup title.In 2005 the Swedish Endurance Racing series was officially dubbed a National Swedish Endurance Racing Championship. Still sponsored by Champion, Rydquist set off with the win in the premiere 3-hour race of the season, piloting MV Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. During the remainder of the 2005 season Rydquist won twice and set the fastest qualifying laptime of all participating Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars twice, in the end earning the first runner-up position in the championship standings. Rydquist got invited by Loehr Racing at the end of 2005 to race in the inaugural Zandvoort 500 in the team's Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Supported by professionally operated Levin Racing, Rydquist did double stints and took the checkered flag as #1, making Loehr Racing the first Swedish team to ever win this race. In 2006 Rydquist went to race in one of the world's most challenging races: The 24 Hours of Nurburgring Nordschleife. Rydquist and the Levin Racing team had a firm grip on their class podium until the gearbox mount of their Porsche 996 (3.5 litres) gave way in the middle of the night and was followed by an on-track incident. After repairs, the team salvaged a 9th in class finish. Rydquist also set the fastest lap of the race in the Swedish Endurance Racing series season premiere with MV Racing's Porsche 911 GT2 R. Rydquist followed up with three more 24H races on the Nurburgring Nordschleife between 2007-2009 with Levin Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 RS, ultimately landing a valuable sponsorship contract with Hankook Tire. In 2010 Rydquist won the Redline Time Attack Championship, a series focused on qualifying setup and driving ability, by 4 victories and 3 podium finishes racing the turbocharged Nissan 350Z of City Tire Online, in the process setting a new track lap record for his class at Willow Springs International Raceway. Rydquist's year of 2010 was rounded off by taking 7th in class in #74 Team MER/Hankook/AE Performance Mazda MX5 Playboy Cup car as professional co-driver to actor Paul "Fast & Furious" Walker in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. In 2011, Rydquist won a 2nd place finish in a one-off visit to the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship, again racing the City Tire Online Nissan 350Z. Rydquist led the majority of the race until an electrical glitch during the closing stages of the race nearly forced a retirement, however when the engine finally restarted, Rydquist set the fastest lap of the race and secured 2nd place. Rydquist celebrated his 5th start in the legendary 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 that rendered the team's Porsche 997 GT3 Cup undriveable. The team swung back in September at the 2011 24 Hours of Barcelona, in which Rydquist finished 2nd 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 roadcourse shootout and he also won the most competitive class of the Super Lap Battle, in the process setting a new class track record. In 2012 Rydquist and Berk Technology followed up on their success with a first-time-in-history double win and two new class records in Global Time Attack Limited and Street classes on the same day with the same competition vehicle by simply swapping tires on the Berk Technology BMW 135i. In 2015, following two years of professional drifting in the USA (below), 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Carl Rydquist」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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