The Volvo Club Motorsport

The night before a race I tend to go to bed reasonably early, but not too early, to make sure I get a good eight hours. I normally don't have trouble sleeping, no matter how things have gone in qualifying. If we have a warm-up, I have to be awake at about 7.30am, and I just eat fruit for breakfast before jumping into my Volvo C70 to drive to the circuit.

There are always lots of cars at BTCC meetings and even the drivers have to park a long distance from the pits and walk in. Some drivers have paddock bikes, but we don't have that luxury. I'm not complaining, though, as it is good to have a walk in the morning. I try to be in the pits for about 8.30am and the warmup usually starts at around nine. in the warm-up, we try to choose the tyres we are going to run in the race and maybe try a few things in the set-up that we hadn't tried before during testing. After that, I have a de-brief with my engineer and the chief designer and also with my new team-mate Vincent Radermecker and his engineer. We have a small office in the truck with all the computers and we look at the data from both the cars to see if there's anything that we can improve. Between us, we then decide the set-up for the race. The only free time on race days is normally between getting up and getting to the circuit because, by 10am, I have the pits walkabout where the public are allowed in and I sign autographs for them nor-stop. I have no idea how many I sign. It's one of the reasons that the BTCC is so popular because the fans can get close to the drivers, so I really don't mind. After the pits walkabout, we do a parade lap in road cars. All of the drivers are driven round the circuit, sitting on the roof, to wave to the fans. Then it's straight back into the pits to get into the car and form up on the grid hopefully on the front row. There's a warm-up lap and then the first race starts. Fingers crossed, everything goes well and the car comes back without any damage, but if it is I have to rely on the team of mechanics to get it fixed and try not to worry about it. In the past, they have changed an engine in an hour - they really are very good.

If I'm in the first three, it's straight onto the moving podium for a victory lap but, unfortunately, I can't drink the champagne as I've got to race again very soon - although it's easy to forget in all the excitement. After that, there's the press interviews and then on to the Volvo hospitality suite for more interviews and questions from Volvo's guests. Most important is lunch as it's vital that I maintain my energy levels. On race days all I eat is pasta with olive oil and drink lots of water so I don't get dehydrated when I'm out on the track. I try to have a chat with my engineer about the first race before the second one starts and we may decide to change the car's set-up. The second race has a compulsory pit stop which adds an extra dimension for the team. Hopefully, the second race also goes well, but I still can't drink the champagne because, on most occasions, I have to drive straight to Heathrow airport so I can fly home to Sweden the following day. I normally get to the hotel at about eight or nine and there are usually a few Swedish television people or Volvo staff there, so we may have a few beers to celebrate before heading for bed.

Rickard Rydell lives just north of Stockholm with his wife Ulrika and two young children. At home, the 31 year old Swede drives a Volvo C70 and helps out with the family flower business when he's not racing.