53×11 is a Swedish brand run by Thomas Bengtsson, who was a competitive rider and spent his youngness in Italy cycling. Thomas is an excellent designer and was inspired by the racing car driven by Ronnie Peterson, a Swedish Formula 1 driver who tragically died during the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 1978, to draw this carbon racing bike.
Peterson was a Swedish icon and throughout the 1970s had the reputation of being the fastest driver in F1 in terms of raw speed, but he was often beaten by his mate Mario Andretti, who was considered better in car development. During the Italian Grand Prix Peterson had made a poor start from the third row of the grid and there was a huge crash which involved Riccardo Patrese, James Hunt, who feinted left and collided with Peterson, Brambilla, Reutemann, Stuck, Depailler, Pironi, Daly, Regazzoni and Lunger. Peterson had about 27 fractures in his legs and feet. During the night, Peterson’s condition worsened, and he was diagnosed with fat embolism. He died the following morning.
Driver Riccardo Patrese was charged with manslaughter because of an unsafe manoeuvre on track and also race director Gianni Restilli, as contributing to Peterson’s death by starting the race with a premature start signal. There is a statue in memory of Ronnie Peterson in Örebro, Sweden. In 1979, George Harrison paid tribute to Peterson with a song and music video called “Faster“.
Peterson’s widow Barbro never got over his death and committed suicide on 19 December 1987. Ronnie’s daughter, Nina Kennedy Peterson, who was just a little child when Ronnie Died, continues his legacy
The designer was inspired by the Lotus driven by Peterson, in gold and black, for his brand 53×11. On this frame, we also painted the seatpost and the handlebar, as designed by Bengstsson. The frame model is the Daccordi Viator, and we are very proud to celebrate a so great driver with this road bike.
In 2017 it was made a film documentary about Ronnie Peterson called “Superswede” which is a must-watch, not only for Formula 1 lovers.
