Robert Dahlgren will switch with Fredrik Ekblom at Polestar Cyan Racing in the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship races, starting at Vila Real in Portugal this weekend.
”I am honoured to get this opportunity and the feeling is of course awesome, especially as I have been a part of this programme since the start with our evaluation season in 2011, as well as the development of the new car this year,” said Robert Dahlgren.
The driver change comes in preparation for 2017 and Ekblom will continue to be a part of the WTCC development programme that is being run alongside the race weekends.
”Our main objective with the WTCC project this year is to prepare for 2017, using two cars and three drivers. As a part of this plan, Robert will switch with Fredrik and join Thed for the part that is done during the race weekends. Needless to say our plan and three drivers have all delivered beyond expectations so far, delivering several top five finishes this early in our first season. We are confident it works and we are continuing with the next phase in our plan,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
Dahlgren, who has driven for the team since 2004, will join Thed Björk as team mate at the challenging street circuit in Vila Real, Portugal, this weekend.
”I am very glad to have Robert as team mate again and to keep my cooperation with Fredrik in the development work in-between the races. The Vila Real races is something I am absolutely looking forward to, it seems to be such a challenging circuit and I absolutely love street circuits,” said Thed Björk.
Dahlgren will continue his STCC programme alongside the WTCC programme, a possible replacement for the final two clashing STCC races will be announced later this year.
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About Polestar
Polestar is the performance brand of Volvo Cars. The company was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships, racing with various Volvo models. In 2009, Polestar started to offer performance related products and thereby intensified the business relations with Volvo Cars. The first performance cars, based on Volvo’s S60 and V60, were launched in 2014. In 2015, Volvo Cars acquired the performance unit of Polestar, as a strong commitment towards a credible performance offer and with the mission to define future premium performance.
About Cyan Racing
Cyan Racing is the motorsport partner to Polestar. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed five STCC driver titles and seven STCC team titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.
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Volvo Car Group en 2015
Au cours de l’exercice fiscal 2015, le résultat d’exploitation de Volvo Car Group a atteint 6,62 MSEK (698 millions d’euros), contre 2,128 MSEK (224 millions d’euros) enregistrés en 2014. Le chiffre d’affaires pour cette période s’élève à 164,043 MSEK (17,3 milliards d’euros), contre 137,590 MSEK (14,5 milliards d’euros) en 2014. Sur l’ensemble de l’année 2015, les ventes mondiales ont atteint un record de 503 127 véhicules écoulés, soit une hausse de 8 % comparativement à 2014. Ces ventes historiques couplées à un résultat d’exploitation record particulièrement encourageant, incitent Volvo Car Group à poursuivre ses investissements vers sa transformation à l’échelle mondiale.
À propos de Volvo Car Group
Volvo existe depuis 1927. Aujourd’hui, Volvo est une des marques automobiles les plus connues et les plus respectées au monde, avec 503 127 véhicules vendus en 2015 dans une centaine de pays. Volvo Cars appartient à la société chinoise Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) depuis 2010, et était rattaché jusqu’en 1999 au groupe suédois Volvo Group, lorsque la compagnie a été rachetée par l’américain Ford Motor Company. En 2010, Geely Holding a acquis Volvo Cars.
En décembre 2015, Volvo Cars comptait plus de 29 000 employés à travers le monde. Le siège social, le développement produit, le marketing et l’administration de Volvo Cars sont principalement situés à Göteborg, en Suède. Le siège de Volvo Cars en Chine se trouve à Shanghai. Ses principales usines de production de voitures se situent à Göteborg (Suède), Gand (Belgique), et Chengdu (Chine) ; les moteurs sont fabriqués à Skövde (Suède) et Zhangjiakou (Chine), et les éléments de carrosserie à Olofström (Suède).
