Rydell: The WTCC hunger remains

Rickard Rydell, 47, last embarked on a full WTCC season in 2009 and only raced twice in 2014. However, he insists his appetite for the World Touring Car Championship remains although he’s keeping his ambitions in check – for now at least.

When you were younger you had the hunger to win and nothing else...

Rickard Rydell

“It will be really good to do a full season again and the programme looks very good,” said the Swede. “I don’t expect to win the championship but if I can be competitive and achieve some podiums then I will be happy. Gabriele Tarquini has proved you can be a little bit older than the other drivers and still be competitive. It’s more about the motivation from yourself. I train between four and seven times a week. Of course you lose a bit of reaction time with age but I think experience can compensate that and I am very fit.”

He continued: “When you were younger you had the hunger to win and nothing else but I still really enjoy the racing now and feel very motivated to be there again. In that way I am still hungry for a result. That doesn’t change. I was the same when I was five years old as my older brother keeps telling me. If you are competitive from a young age it stays like that.”

Rydell, a five-time WTCC winner, is due to test his NIKA Racing Honda Civic WTCC at the end of January ahead of the new season getting underway in Argentina from 6-8 March

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