| Welcome |
Hey, welcome to my official blog!
This is the place where you will find quick reports directly from my race weekends, plus a lot of other fun stuff going on, not always about racing.
Cheers! /Carl |
| Pic of the week |
Grid before the race, Nordschleife 2008. |
| Songs to check out |
1. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
2. Span - Baby's Come Back
3. Adam Tensta - My Cool
4. Outkast - Take Off Your Cool
5. Sia - Breathe Me
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| Food and Drinks |
1. Vino Pasta, Gothenburg, SWE
2. Redondo Beach Brewing Co, CA
3. The Standard, Hollywood, CA
4. Paradise Cove, Malibu, CA
5. Nic's, Bevery Hills, CA
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| Other things |
| Spot to be filled with useful content. |
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| Client wins Thunderhill |
| Wednesday, January 21, 2009 |
 My racer client Boris picked up a lot in 2008 and crowned the year with a victory in the EO class, and 2nd place overall, at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Good job and big congrats!Labels: Instructing, Racing |
posted by Carl Rydquist @ 9:01 PM   |
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| Cool gear |
| Monday, January 19, 2009 |
Here's a nice hint for a cool gift to any racing person or fan: Carbon fiber wallet. Got one for my brother. Just thought I'd let you guys know. :) /Carl
 Labels: Misc |
| posted by Carl Rydquist @ 1:42 PM |
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| Winter season |
| Sunday, January 11, 2009 |
 Winter break was a mix of good times, with Christmas celebration at Yosemite and New Year's eve celebrated with good friends in San Diego. We did not go to Sweden like we did last year, have done too many flights to Europe in 2008 already and more are coming up fairly soon so it was nice to just stay and charge batteries in CA.
Still got to play in the snow, thanks to my Danish buddy Danny who invited us to come party with a bunch of friends in Big Bear, where we hit the slopes in perfect conditions, ice cold well prepared snow and the sun beaming down on us.
 Jen impressed with great skills on skis and we'll have a lot of fun on our upcoming trip to Mammoth, also with a good party crew from San Diego.
 Winter break also consisted of finishing up the Nurburgring video (see previous post) and getting into the sponsorship details for the upcoming racing season, both for racing and drifting. The Formula Drift car is ready and pre-season practice will start soon, stay tuned for videos! //CarlLabels: Misc |
| posted by Carl Rydquist @ 11:19 AM |
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| Video from the The Green Hell |
| Friday, January 9, 2009 |
Labels: Racing |
| posted by Carl Rydquist @ 9:29 PM |
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| Happy New Year! |
| Friday, January 2, 2009 |
It's been a busy November and December, so here's a recap. Just a couple of weeks before the Formula Drift ProAm Nationals, when I was in the middle of some very fun 4th gear drift practice sessions, I got a call from Formula Drift. They informed me that I was granted a Formula Drift license for 2009. So, all of a sudden the pressure on the team to get the car back together in a rush, with a FD roll-cage etc, was off.
Instead, focus shifted to make the best planning possible for FD 2009. John (City Tire) and I went to Sema, attended the FD press conference and had some productive meetings. We will see when the racing season starts which parts of these talks that will actually happen, but being an independent team, things are looking stable for City Tire Online's upcoming effort for FD 2009.
 The CTO 350Z Twin Turbo got ready by mid-December, which was a great boost. The cage looks very nice and strong, built very light-weight at the same time and the engine tone is EXTREMELY aggressive.
It is a very clean looking car but don't let it mislead you, it is a real animal. The car has tons of power and very low weight, now all we have to do is increase the steering angle to insanity - this will be needed to make a difference in FD with the field being so even right now. I can't wait to drift it on the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit in April.
There were also some talks about grip racing during SEMA. This is something I am very much anticipating some good news about, it's time to stir it up a bit around here with some real Swedish speed on the tracks.
Other than that, I organized a car control clinic in December, a lot of fun. I also test drove a 670hp, 350.000 Euro car which impressed me extremely much, this was a very big reward for my appetite for speed. Very nice build, fantastic looks etc etc... Two words: Black Series.
 I recently sold my "practice car", the gray 350Z. It did its job to get me into the drift scene over here and now is time to be back in team-cars again and up the game. Apart from a fantastic race for me personally in the Levin Racing 996 GT3 RSR at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, 2008 was, as planned, sort of an interrim year for me, to establish myself as a driver in a new part of the world.
And as such, 2008 has been completely fantastic and what's even cooler is that 2009 looks to become even better. Stay tuned! /Carl
 John and me worked together to secure competitive tires for 2009.
 Hankook showing off big! The new C91 tires are the ones to beat and the RS3 are rumoured to be even better than the RS2. We will see the exact data when testing starts.
 The FD conference was very clear and concise. Jim Liaw and his associates presented the media stats, some very nice news about TV broadcasting for 2009 as well as a well thought out competition calendar.
 Formula Drift misses representing.
 BMW M3 will be back in American Le Mans this year.
 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR will be the main competitor to beat.
 The SEMA visit was rounded off by enjoying the Scion VIP party @ Planet Hollywood. Some of the top drivers and representatives for various companies were there, a lot of fun gossip exchanged... 2009 will be a very exciting year for the audience as well as the drivers and teams, no doubt. (Big thanks to City Tire and Marcus Fasth/Autorapid Motorsport for pictures) Labels: Drifting, Events, Instructing, Media, Racing, Testing |
| posted by Carl Rydquist @ 6:51 PM |
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| Fast Facts |
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Name: Carl Rydquist
Age: 33
Home: Redondo Beach
Web: CarlRydquist.com
Reel: Click to watch
Highlights: Winner of Swedish Endurance 8/12h GT Racing Championship (2001). Winner of Swedish Endurance 3h GT Racing Championship (2004). Winner of Zandvoort 500 (2005). Winner of Eurosport Super Racing Weekend Challenge (2001). 24 Hours of Nurburgring (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).
Memberships: FIA (intl racing license), Formula D, Performance Two Stunt & Precision Driving Team, Hollywood, CA, Screen Actors Guild.
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