2011 Volvo C30 DRIVe WTCC

Press release

Robert Dahlgren will pilot Volvo Cars’ Swedish Touring Car Chaimpionship-winner in the World Touring Car Championship in evaluation for an official Volvo entry from 2012.

The Official Volvo Motorsport partner since 1996, Polestar Racing, has just been given a green light by Volvo Cars to enter one car in the 2011 WTCC season. Polestar will participate in all races in 2011 with one Volvo C30 DRIVe racer driven by Robert Dahlgren.

Racing results in 2011, however important, will still be second priority. Polestars first and foremost task is to evaluate the car and the championship to provide Volvo Cars with a technical and commercial base to be able to finalize an official Volvo entry from 2012.

"We are very happy and proud for this vote of confidence. This will be a challenge for us but we have prepared for this for several years. Our organization is in place and we have already started with preparations" says Christian Dahl, Managing Director for Polestar Racing.

Volvo fans everywhere remember Volvo winning both the European Touring Car Championship with the 240 and the British Touring Car Championship with the S40. Volvo has also won the Swedish Touring Car Championship with the 850, S40, S60 and most recently, with the C30.

Now for 2011, Volvo is set to take the first step to a come-back to international motor sport.
"Volvo has a solid touring car racing tradition and we see a potential now for converting this into a global commercial tool from 2012 through WTCC. It is vital the technical and commercial aspects of the series align with our ambitions and this is what Polestar is out to confirm for us in 2011" says Magnus Jonsson, Volvo Cars Senior Vice President of Product Development and chairman of the Motorsport Board.

However, Volvo fans will not need to wait to 2011 to see the Volvo C30 in action on track. Freshly crowned Scandinavian Champion Robert Dahlgren can secure back-to-back victories for Volvo and Polestar in The Swedish Touring Car Championship this coming weekend on October 2:nd. A month later, Polestar and Dahlgren will compete in WTCC at Okayama in Japan - a soft start to the 2011 WTCC season.