RYDQUIST HOPEFUL AHEAD OF TA2 WEST COAST TITLE BID
April 21, 2021
New class, new team, new car as Carl Rydquist joins Nelson Motorsports at Sonoma
Sonoma Raceway, CA (April 21, 2021) - Following two seasons of setting the pace in the Trans Am by Pirelli West Coast SGT Championship, Swedish race driver Carl Rydquist steps into the TA2 class for the 2021 West Coast Championship. He will be piloting the No. 47 Racecars4Rent/Optimal Stunt Ford Mustang fielded by Nelson Motorsports.
“Running SGT, the cars around me on track were the TA2 cars,” explains Carl. “In the Esports Championship the majority of drivers were from TA2. So when we came to the decision to focus back on endurance racing again with the PDG4 GTM, joining the TA2 class was my next goal on this Trans Am journey.”
Talent gravitates towards talent and TA2 is attracting more and more of it. Rydquist will be facing strong competition on arrival in TA2. Already at Sonoma, there will be drivers from the National and ProAm Championships in the field and the second West Coast race at Laguna Seca will run together with the National Championship. Those championships have already kicked off and in some cases the drivers have several seasons to their names in TA2 machinery.
“It’s a tall order but it’s motivating. The good, it’s real life so I don’t have to deal with framerate lag when the season kicks off. The bad, there is very little test time ahead of these first couple of races,” admits Carl. “From a driver perspective I’ve done my homework. If I can get on top of how TA2 Pirelli tires behave especially when new I’ll have a shot at extracting the most in qualifying, to position myself for a great race. Thankfully with Nelson Motorsports I feel like I can hit the ground running.”
Rydquist is partnered for the season by Optimal Stunt, a Premier Stunt and Precision Driving Group consisting of exceptional and experienced female and male drivers and riders, most of whom are SAG-AFTRA members and have backgrounds in motorsports.
“I’ve driven on camera for almost as long as I have been racing,” says Carl. “It can’t be said enough times. The level of safety for staff, talent and hero cars, along with time savings and visual results, that the hiring of a seasoned pro driver brings to a set, is the most optimal choice that a production company can do on a job that involves scenes with cars or motorcycles.”
The West Coast Championship will visit seven iconic tracks in five different states in 2021. Sonoma, Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, The Ridge, Portland International Raceway, Utah and COTA, Rydquist sees an opportunity to be a contender for the West Coast title.
“The plan is to achieve incremental goals in TA2, a podium, a fastest lap in a race, a win, and so on,” Carl explains. “If we achieve many of those smaller goals and stay consistent we have a shot at the West Coast TA2 Championship title.”
Round 1 begins with qualifying on Saturday April 24, followed by a 100-mile race on April 25, immediately followed by Round 2 at Laguna Seca on April 30 - May 1.
Live Timing & Scoring via www.gotransam.com
Social media hub on www.carlrydquist.com
About Nelson Motorsports:
Nelson Motorsports is expanding its services into a rental race car program called Racecars4rent. We began as a family passionate about racing and the life lessons it brings. Road course racing is where we have landed our racing passion, setting track records on the West Coast and winning races at big time circuits like Circuit of the Americas.
Learn more at https://www.racecars4rent.com/
Parties interested in the 2021 R4R “Arrive and Drive” Program in TA2, can contact the team office at (509) 948-5785 or email nelsonmotorsports64@icloud.com
