Rydell exceeds expectations on WTCC return

Rickard Rydell shrugged off the cold of Italy during a short pre-season test and two races in the baking heat of Argentina last weekend to score a brace of points finishes on his return to the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Starting from 16th and 15th on the respective grids, the touring car legend finished 10th and ninth in the two races at Autódromo Term/as de Río Hondo aboard his Honda Civic WTCC to claim three valuable points.

“It’s a great feeling to be back in the WTCC and given our lack of pre-season testing I’m very pleased with the way the weekend unfolded,” said the 47-year-old, a winner of five WTCC races in the past. “The heat was incredible in Argentina, with temperatures of more than 70 degrees inside the car, and these were two of the toughest races I’ve ever driven.

“We went here knowing that one and a half days of testing in the cold of Italy wouldn’t be enough, but we have learned a lot and we are definitely making progress. We made changes to the car between every session and we have now got a month before Marrakech to analyse all the data.”

NIKA International team prinicipal Nicklas Karlsson added: “The team have done a wonderful job and scoring points in Argentina surpasses our expectations at this stage of the season. Rickard was 11th after the first run in qualifying when we had an untimely technical problem. Without that, things could have potentially gone better still.”