Unfortunately last week the motorcycle drag racing community lost one of it’s greatest racers when highly-decorated European Top Fuel Motorcycle racer Rikard Gustafsson subcommand to an accident on his record-braking motorcycle.
Gustafsson’s friend Job Heezen put togtehr teh following heartfelt tribute –
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words and this time it’s even harder to talk about the passing of Rikard. We didn’t just lose a great racer but above all a good friend, a great human and a so called bubba. We all know him as a dedicated performer, a mentor for a lot of us, a longtime promotor of our sport and a guy who felt like a brother to many.
Hard to describe the actual feelings, the best word is maybe ” a great emptiness “. Numerous memories are passing bye all day and it goes everywhere : …..the way he helped fellow racers where and when he could, time after time ……the long period of racing together ……the way his welding skills got us to the end of an event …..his excellent sportsmanship …… his will to win but also his power to accept a lost race …… his grumpy face in the start line when concentrating for the run ……..but evenly so the speed this face turned into a big smile if you looked him in his eyes ……. the determination in the battles between his FunnyBike and these f…….g (his words) TopFuelBikes …….his supreme skills of cooking the perfect Swedish meatballs when visiting him in Falkenberg …… his concerns about his younger brother’s well-being at the time he visited our house ……..the tired look when he finally reached Santa Pod in his old Ajokki bus …… too many memories to mention.
One of the strongest memories is maybe that day when he lost control of his bike at the run-out of Hockenheim. He had issues with his parachute who pulled his bike to the right. He was heading towards the wall of tires and he knew it wasn’t a good option so he jumped off his bike at a high speed just before it was too late. Think of it, you need a good bit of courage to do so at such a speed. He did and it probably saved his life at that time. He got air-lifted to the nearest hospital, the one in Mannheim. For some unknown reasons nobody joined him in the chopper and even his crew didn’t know about his condition or his whereabouts so we grabbed a car and went after him. Arriving at the hospital there was nobody registered with the name of Rikard Gustafsson and our stress level went up quite high. All of a sudden we noticed a clipboard mentioning a ” mister X ” …… that was the one we were looking for. Difficult to describe the relief to see him alive …. but not really kicking.
The next day he was feeling a bit better but a lot was not like it’s supposed to be, broken ribs, broken wrist and some more …….yet, he asked to smuggle him out the door and take him with me in the car, back to the track, afraid as he was to be left alone in this German hospital after all his people went home. It took a few strong words to make sure he understood this was not a bright idea.
It didn’t brake his moral and we soon noticed that he was again racing the same way he did before the crash, only full throttle, nothing else.
Just a few days ago we had a long conversation on rules and on the dangers and risk of our sport. He was well aware of all the dangers and he was prepared to take them. I’m pretty sure it never crossed his mind that a show burn-out could possibly cost him his life and it’s cruel that this happened . He must have done it a thousand times or more but this time it was a fatal one.
.Our races will never be the same anymore and you will sorely be missed but you will never be forgotten. Rikard is in racers heaven now and I hope they saved a good whiskey and some snus for you mate
Stats from Gustafsson’s Incredible Career
