Volvo joins Australia's V8 Supercars series [w/video]

Mon, 17 Jun 2013

It was just a rumor, but now it's official, mates: Volvo will be joining the V8 Supercars series in Australia with an official team for 2014. Volvo is partnering with Garry Rogers Motorsport and its own Polestar tuning firm to create Volvo Polestar Racing.

A V8 engine will be produced by the Swedish arm of the racing effort, and will be supplied to the Garry Rogers team, which will get the whole shebang ready for the track. The outfit will be running two V8 Supercars "based on the production S60 road car." Considering that the S60 uses a range of transversely mounted engines with four, five or six cylinders (powering either the front or all four wheels) while the new race car will employ a V8 sending about 650 horsepower to the rear wheels, make that very loosely based on the production S60...

Volvo claims this is the first factory-backed entry in the V8 Supercars series from a luxury brand. We should note, though, that Mercedes-Benz is represented in the series with an E-Class sedan, but that outfit isn't quite an official entry from the car's German parents. In any case, you're encouraged to watch the teaser video and read the press release below for all the details.

Volvo Cars to join Australian V8 Supercars Championship

Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) announces it will have an official Volvo Polestar Racing team on the grid in the V8 Supercars Championship in 2014 and race the Volvo S60.

"I'm delighted to announce Volvos return to motorsport in Australia. Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country, including winning Australia's most famous race, the Bathurst 1000, 15 years ago this coming October. As the first luxury car brand to enter an official factory team in the V8 Supercars Championship, we're determined to add to this heritage, while strengthening the presence of the S60 model line and the Volvo brand here in Australia," said Matt Braid, Volvo Car Australia Managing Director.

Volvo Car Australia will join forces with Volvo Car Group's global motorsport partner Polestar to create a partnership with the well-renowned V8 Supercars team Garry Rogers Motorsport, and form Volvo Polestar Racing Australia to compete in the championship.

The announcement is made a week after Volvo's Swedish Volvo Polestar Racing outfit celebrated a championship record 1-2-3-4 win in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, where the team has been a long-term presence and has won many titles.

"We are extremely happy to expand our motorsport activities and offer a Volvo Polestar Racing team to fans in Australia and all over the world. The V8 Supercars championship is one of the - if not the - most competitive touring car championships in the world with fans across the globe. With the new Car of the Future regulations, it offers a perfect platform for our Volvo S60," said Derek Crabb, Executive Motorsport Director of Volvo Car Group

Polestar has been Volvo Car Group's global performance and motorsport partner since 1996, and has campaigned Volvos in the World Touring Car Championship and the European Touring Car Championship. Currently, the team leads both the manufacturers' and drivers' championship in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and will now also take on the responsibility to produce the V8 engine and assist Garry Rogers Motorsport in the development of the S60 V8 Supercar.

"We are very proud and excited to take on this new challenge and we will do our absolute best to utilize our 17 years of experience racing with Volvo, and add engineering and development strengths to the already competent team at Garry Rogers Motorsport," said Polestar owner Christian Dahl.

V8 Supercars team Garry Rogers Motorsport - which this year celebrates its 50th consecutive racing season at the top level - will take on the responsibility to produce and race two V8 Supercars Volvo S60's from 2014.

"The opportunity to align ourselves with Volvo and Polestar is first class. Most heartening of all, I am dealing with people who understand racing from an engineering perspective and the personal, day-to-day matters you need to have experienced to achieve success," said Garry Rogers, founder and owner of Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Volvo has a rich heritage of motorsport in Australia, having won the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship in 1986 with Robbie Francevic in a Volvo 240T. This year marks the 15th anniversary of Volvo winning Australia's most famous race, the Bathurst 1000 in 1998 with Jim Richards and Rickard Rydell in a Volvo S40. Volvo is now set to start a new chapter in its racing history in Australia with the Volvo S60.

For more information about the series, visit: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/. For more information about Volvo Polestar Racing, visit: http://www.volvopolestarracing.com/

By Jeremy Korzeniewski