Last December we got the sad news that Volvo was pulling out of all forms of racing that didn’t have anything to do with boats, and that left a sour taste in our mouths. Volvo isn’t exactly the forefront of motorsports like Ferrari or Ford, but they could field a damn competitive product when they came to play. Who else would bring a station wagon to Touring Car racing? But the press release said it clearly: Volvo is done racing.
Funny thing, though…Volvo themselves might be done, but Polestar (in form as Volvo’s performance division) and their Cyan Racing group isn’t. And judging the 2016 World Touring Car Championship-ready S60 TC1, it looks like we’ve found the one office at Volvo HQ that is blasting In Flames and Dark Tranquility out of the speakers as they build cars. It isn’t everyday that a Volvo can catch our attention easily, but this in-the-raw race car looks ready to rip. Packing a 400 horsepower version of Volvo’s Drive-E four-cylinder in lieu of the standard WTCC engine is impressive, but to Cyan Racing, that isn’t much of a surprise. “To use the Volvo engine as base and not go for the available generic WTCC race engine for our car was a no-brainer. Volvo engines are suitable for racing purposes in terms of power, technology and durability, as we have proven previously in the STCC, V8 Supercars and WTCC. The Drive-E engine is a perfect example with its low friction technology and exotic materials. We have been able to utilise a lot of development work from earlier racing programmes as well as road car development and we are keen to get going against the best in the 2016 WTCC,” said Mattias Evensson, head of engine development at Cyan Racing.
We will be watching to see how all of this works out in WTCC racing, but for now, we have to come to terms with the fact that we’ve just found a Volvo that we want to drive.
(Courtesy: Autoblog)
Volvo race in Australian V8 supercars as well