Volvo confirms their entry into the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship

Volvo have announced today that they will enter next year’s V8 Supercars Championship, becoming the fifth manufacturer on the grid. The Swedish brand will compete as part of a partnership involving their performance & sporting division Polestar, and with series’ stalwarts Garry Rogers Motorsport.

The car the manufacturer will enter will be the Volvo S60, and it will join the field next season to compete against the existing combination of Holden Commodores, Ford Falcons, Nissan Altimas and Mercedes-Benz E63s as the series continues to expand following the introduce of the new Car Of The Future technical regulations for this season.

“I’m delighted to announce our return to motorsport in Australia,” said Volvo Car Australia Managing Director Mark Braid at the announcement in Brisbane.

“Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country, including winning Australia’s most famous race, Bathurst, 15 years ago this coming October.

“As the first luxury car brand to enter a 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.”

Volvo joins the series which now competes on both the Australasian and American continents with a new round added this year at the Circuit of the Americas track in Texas, USA.

Volvo, Polestar and Garry Rogers Motorsport will work together next season, which sees Rogers’ team part company with Holden after a 17 year relationship, starting when the team first entered the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1996. The team currently sits sixth in the teams’ championship, with a race victory under their belt at Pukekohe for new driver Scott McLaughlin and also is also fielding Frenchman Alexandré Premat in his second season this year.

“For myself and all our staff and sponsors, who have been with us for a considerable time, the opportunity to utilise the Car of the Future regulations to introduce Volvo to our category is certainly very exciting. And I know that if we continue to work hard it will also become very
rewarding,” said Rogers.

“The opportunity to align ourselves with Volvo, one of the world’s most recognised brands, and team up with Christian Dahl and Polestar, is first class.

“I am still a racer at heart and the big plus of this relationship that impressed me more than others manufacturers I had spoken to was the fact these people had done their homework on the Car of the Future rules and regulations, and could see the commercial opportunities that
this offered.

“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.”

Polestar, currently fielding five Volvo S60s in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, is going to develop the Volvo V8 engine and assist GRM in the development of the Volvo V8 Supercars programme.

“We are very proud and excited to take on the V8 Supercars together with Volvo Car Australia and Garry Rogers Motorsport, a championship that has grown to become one of the most prestigious and competitive racing championships in the world,” said Christian Dahl, owner of Polestar.

“Polestar will do our absolute best to add Volvo knowledge, engineering and development strengths to the already competent team at Garry Rogers Motorsport.”

Volvo’s announcement comes on the 15th anniversary of a critical success for Volvo in the Championship, with Rickard Rydell and Jim Richards having raced to victory at the Bathurst 1000km race back in 1998.

“To have another prestigious brand like Volvo in our sport is a red letter day for V8 Supercars,” said V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton.

“The strength of V8 Supercars is such that global brands, not limited to car manufacturers, are becoming increasingly aware of and directly involved in the business.

“It is my vision to build V8 Supercars into one of the strongest brands in the world with the partners to match. That is the level of untapped potential I believe this sport has.

“I am extremely delighted to have Volvo in our sport and congratulate Garry and his team on becoming the official Volvo factory team in V8 Supercars.”

Derek Crabb, Executive Motorsport Director of the Volvo Car Group added:

“Polestar has been Volvo Car Group’s global performance and motorsport partner since 1996, and has campaigned Volvos in the World Touring Car Championship, the European Touring Car Championship and, currently, the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.

“We are extremely happy to see Polestar enter this collaboration with Garry Rogers Motorsport for Volvo Car Australia.”