Initially he trained to be an accountant at AB Rydell,[2] his family's flower boutique business, but was bitten by the racing bug.

His first year in the BTCC was 1994, when his car was quite distinctive, driving a Volvo 850 Estate, when it was normal to race saloons.

At the end of the year he was third in the championship, a result repeated in 1996 although Audi dominated with Frank Biela he was able to score 4 victories and 6 podium.

He spent 2001 largely waiting for his ETCC Volvo S60 to be built, but he raced a Ferrari 550 Maranello in the FIA GT Championship for the Prodrive team.

Rydell raced in the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans with David Brabham and Darren Turner and they won in the GT1 class.

[7] In a 2005 poll run by Motorsport Magazine, Rydell was voted 18th greatest touring car driver of all time.

The aim was to showcase the competitiveness of the car and tempt potential race teams to buy the vehicle from Prodrive.

He moved back to touring cars for his full-time programmes from 2002, but competed with Prodrive in the Ferrari again at the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans, sadly retiring.

For the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans the Prodrive Ferrari-Rydell combination finished on the GTS-class podium in third, Rickard sharing the car with Darren Turner and rally-driver Colin McRae.

After a hiatus of two years, Rickard once again teamed up with Prodrive for the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, this time in an Aston Martin DBR9.