Media) | T: +46 (0)73-267 16 83 Maria Johansson (Honda Sweden) | T: +46 (0)73-699 07 09

Rickard Rydell back behind the wheel with Honda Racing team Sweden

Mantorp (Sweden), May 26, 2015

Honda Racing team Sweden’s Rickard Rydell has returned to the wheel of his WTCC Honda Civic TC1 for the first time since being diagnosed with thyroiditis five weeks ago.

Former BTCC and STCC champion Rydell undertook two days of testing at Mantorp Park in Sweden on Monday and Tuesday, assessing his current physical condition while simultaneously evaluating new suspension components from the team’s technical partner Öhlins.

Indications from the two-day test were largely positive, and Rydell continues to make significant rehabilitation progress.

Honda Racing team Sweden and Rickard Rydell have been forced to miss the last three rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Morocco, Hungary and Germany, but are now looking forward to returning to the paddock for the forthcoming WTCC Race of Russia on June 5-7.

CONTACT DETAILS FURTHER INFORMATION Nicklas Karlsson (team principal) | T: +46 (0)73-342 83 83 www.hondaracingteamsweden.se Stefan Lindberg (sporting director) | T: +46 (0)70-587 93 35 www.honda.se Mattias Persson (PR/media) | T: +46 (0)73-267 16 83 www.fiawtcc.com Maria Johansson (Honda Sweden) | T: +46 (0)73-699 07 09

HONDA RACING TEAM SWEDEN Sweden’s only world championship-level motor racing outfit. Announced at a press conference in Stockholm in early 2014, the project has come to fruition thanks to the combined efforts of Honda Sweden and specialist motorsport squad NIKA Racing, which competed in the WTCC back in 2013. Back then, the team managed to claim an impressive three overall race wins despite holding privateer status, but a radical rules overhaul ahead of 2014 saw the arrival of the new TC1 era – which heralds a set of entirely new challenges for the Honda Racing team Sweden venture. NIKA Racing also ran Rickard Rydell to the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship title. www.hondaracingteamsweden.se

RICKARD RYDELL 47-year-old Rickard Rydell is one of Sweden’s most experienced and successful racing drivers of the modern era, having clinched titles in both the British (1998) and Scandinavian (2011) Touring Car Championships and becoming the first-ever Swede to claim victory in the prestigious Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in China (1992). Rydell raced full-time in the WTCC between 2005 and 2009, with 2015 marking his return to the international touring car arena as he embarks on an all-Swedish attack on the world championship – flying the flag for Honda Racing team Sweden. www.rickardrydell.com

HONDA CIVIC TC1 WTCC Rickard Rydell’s weapon for the 2015 WTCC campaign is a brand new Honda Civic TC1 WTCC, built to the latest and most advanced set of technical regulations. The car had its shakedown test at Italian Honda tuner JAS Motorsport’s facilities on the outskirts of Milan in late February, before being flown to the curtain-raising round in Argentina. The introduction of the TC1 regulations in 2014 has made WTCC cars faster – and more spectacular – than ever before.

FIA WTCC The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is sanctioned by international motorsport governing body the FIA, and currently features entries from Honda, Citroën, Lada and Chevrolet.

The 2015 WTCC campaign boosts 12 rounds staged all across the world, taking teams and drivers to a wide variety of venues and exotic locations. Among new additions to the calendar are Buriram, Thailand, and a season-ending visit to Qatar, while a much-talked-about mid-May appearance at the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife promises its own fair share of drama. www.fiawtcc.com

2015 CALENDAR WTCC

Race 1: Argentina (Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo) 6-8 March Race 2: Morocco (Circuit Moulay El Hassan) 17-19 April Race 3: Hungary (Hungaroring) 1-3 May Race 4: Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife) 15-16 May Race 5: Russia (Moscow) 5-7 June Race 6: Slovakia (Slovakia Ring) 19-21 June Race 7: France (Paul Ricard) 26-28 June Race 8: Portugal (Vila Real) 10-12 July Race 9: Japan 11-13 September Race 10: China (Shanghai) 25-27 September Race 11: Thailand (Buriram) 30 October-1 November Race 12: Qatar (Losail) 20-22 November