Ultimate Cup Series Formula Cup driver Walter Rykart passed away at the age of 66 earlier this month. The Swiss racer was the most experienced competitor in the history of the championship’s single-seater category. Feeder Series remembers him and his racing career.

By Michael McClure and Julien Thoinet

Rykart had been a regular competitor in the French single-seater championship since its inception in 2019, racking up 123 starts from 126 races held. He last competed in the UCS Formula Cup season opener at Le Castellet from 24 to 26 April.

A Facebook post from Rykart Gerüstbau AG, of which Rykart was owner and managing director, confirmed that he died unexpectedly on 7 May 2026, less than two weeks later. A cause of death was not disclosed.

Ultimate Cup Series shared the news of his death in a statement published on social media yesterday, 18 May.

“A loyal and appreciated figure within the paddock for many years, Walter was one of those personalities everyone knew and enjoyed seeing throughout the meetings and events,” the statement read.

He had been due to return to action next weekend at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the championship’s second round.

Rykart, born 15 May 1959, was professionally trained as an auto mechanic before establishing himself in the scaffolding construction industry. He founded his company Rykart Gerüstbau as a sole proprietorship in 1983. The company went public in 1988 – the year Rykart’s first three employees were hired – and eventually grew to become a roughly 50-employee entity now based in Islikon in north-eastern Switzerland.

Still, Rykart had unfinished business in the automotive industry, and he blended his backgrounds by featuring his company’s logos on numerous single-seater cars over the past decade. He made his first known racing appearance in the V de V Challenge in 2016, driving a Tatuus FR 2.0/13 in six of the seven rounds for Heuri Rennwagen, and quickly grew to become a regular competitor in the championship.

He remained with the team for the full 2017 season. In 2018, the series’ final season, he raced with Jean-Claude Estre’s Formula Motorsport team, for whom he drove for the remainder of his career. During this time, he appeared in races alongside the likes of Richard Verschoor, Rinus VeeKay, Nicolás Varrone and Logan Sargeant.

For 2019, Rykart moved to the Formula Challenge category run as part of the new Ultimate Cup Series. From then on, he competed in almost every race that the series held, only missing one round at the end of 2021, his first season with the Tatuus FR-19 chassis used in Formula Regional competition.

While never an outright race winner, Rykart was a consistent presence in the single-seater category’s gentleman driver class. He achieved his best results in 2023, when he took an outright F3R podium at Magny-Cours en route to third place in the overall standings.

He also won the Ultimate Class that year with eight class victories from 18 races and three poles from six qualifying sessions. He was the only driver to complete the full season.

In 2024, the championship had two separate F3R classes, one for drivers running with 17-inch Michelin tyres and the other for drivers on 13-inch Hoosier tyres. Rykart entered the first round in the former before switching to the latter for the final five rounds. One of his teammates at Formula Motorsport that year was eventual overall champion Enzo Richer, who made a one-off appearance for G4 Racing in FR Europe last year.

Last year, in his final full campaign in the series, Rykart finished ninth in the overall standings and third in the gentleman driver class standings.

For this year, Rykart occupied a seat alongside rookie driver Alexis Storksen and sat sixth in the standings after the opening UCS Formula Cup round of 2026. He had finished second in class in all three races at Le Castellet.

In his 123rd and final race in the championship, he was the innocent party in a frightening crash on the eighth lap with Thierry Malhomme while disputing third in class. After the pair touched wheels at the Beausset double right-hander, Rykart’s car flipped over and slid into the run-off area, righting itself before hitting the barrier. Rykart walked away unassisted. The race was red-flagged on lap nine and the result taken from two laps before the stoppage, with Malhomme disqualified.

Outside of motorsport, Rykart was active in equestrian sports. He owned many racehorses such as Duskill, who won 11 races total around France. 

A fierce competitor who strived to win on all types of courses, Walter Rykart was defined by his passion for racing, and he will deeply missed in the UCS paddock and beyond. Feeder Series extends its condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Editor’s note: The UCS Formula Cup posts announcing Walter Rykart’s death incorrectly listed his birth year as 1967. The correct birth year of 1959 was confirmed to Feeder Series Tuesday afternoon prior to this article’s publication.

Header photo credit: Davy Delien via Ultimate Cup Series