Polestar Cyan Racing went back into the points in the very hot FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) Vila Real street circuit races as Thed Björk secured two top ten finishes.
The reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) champion crossed the line in seventh position in the first race and one place better in the second race, just one second behind reigning double world champion José María López.
”I am happy with the outcome of the weekend in terms of the work we have done with the car and that I was able to fight with the drivers around me from my qualifying positions,” said Thed Björk.
Robert Dahlgren is back in the WTCC for the first time since 2011, qualifying eleventh and finishing 13th in the first race, being forced to retire from the second race due to a technical issue.
”With my limited time in the car and no experience from the circuit for neither the team nor me, this has been a positive first weekend. We made steady progress forward all weekend and I can’t wait to dig my teeth into all data and move forward for the coming races,” said Robert Dahlgren.
The WTCC race weekend in Portugal concludes the European part of the season with Argentina next up after the summer break on August 5-7th. More than half of the season has been completed with Polestar Cyan Racing claiming 14 points finishes, two top five finishes and one Q3 session.
”The learnings from our last visit to the street circuit in Marrakech could be applied today and we are happy with being back in the points. Street circuits like Vila Real are like walking on a tightrope without a safety net, especially for us having never been here before. The team and our drivers have been very brave and professional all weekend,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
WTCC Race of Portugal
Circuit: Circuito International de Vila Real
Length: 4785 m
Lap record (WTCC): 1:58.385 (Huff)
Results
Race 1 – Top 5
1 Tom Coronel Chevrolet Cruze 13 laps
2 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +0.597
3 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta +2.626
4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +3.145
5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +3.626
…
7 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +5.155
13 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +20.282
Race 2 – Top 5
1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 14 laps
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.821
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +2.181
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic +3.402
5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +16.164
…
6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +17.374
DNF Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60
Q1 – Top 5
1 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 1:56.900
2 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.264
3 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.338
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.417
5 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.588
…
7 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +1.173
11 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +1.486
Q2 – Top 5
1 Rob Huff Honda Civic 1:56.403
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.025
3 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.179
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +1.238
5 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.733
…
6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +1.238
11 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +2.174
Q3 – Top 5
1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +1:56.633
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.109
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +1.740
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic +2.398
5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée No time
Championship standings
Drivers
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 244 pts
2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 143 (-101)
3 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta 139 (-105)
4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 134 (-110)
5 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 133 (-111)
…
12 Thed Björk Volvo S60 41 (-203)
13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 35 (-209)
TV Schedule
International: https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv/
Online: http://premium.fiawtcc.com
2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
3 – Tom Chilton – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
7 – Hugo Valente – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
10 – Nicky Catsburg – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
11 – Grégoire Demoustier – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
12 – Rob Huff – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
37 – José María López – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
55 – Ferenc Ficza – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
62 – Thed Björk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Robert Dahlgren – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yvan Muller – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
77 – René Münnich – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
89 – John Bryant-Meisner – Nika Racing – Chevrolet Cruze WTCC
99 – Dániel Nagy – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2016 Calendar
1-3 April FIA WTCC Race of France (Circuit Paul Ricard)
15-17 April FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia (Slovakia Ring)
22-24 April FIA WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring)
7-8 May FIA WTCC Race of Morocco (Moulay El Hassan, Marrakech) S
26-28 May FIA WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife)
10-12 June FIA WTCC Race of Russia (Moscow Raceway)
24-26 June FIA WTCC Race of Portugal (Circ. Internacional de Vila Real) S
5-7 August FIA WTCC Race of Argentina (Circ. Termas de Río Hondo)
2-4 September FIA WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi)
23-25 September FIA WTCC Race of China (Shanghai International Circuit)
4-6 November FIA WTCC Race of Thailand (Chang International Circuit)
23-25 November FIA WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit) N
S = Street race
N = Night Race
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 drivers’ titles and seven STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.
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Volvo Car Group in 2015
Voor het boekjaar 2015 liet Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) een bedrijfswinst optekenen van SEK 6.620 miljoen (EUR 706 miljoen), tegenover SEK 2.128 miljoen (EUR 229 miljoen) in 2014. De omzet voor dit boekjaar bedroeg SEK 164.043 miljoen (EUR 17,5 miljard), tegenover SEK 137.590 miljoen (EUR 14,7 miljard) in 2014. In 2015 verkocht Volvo Car Group wereldwijd 503.127 auto's, ofwel 8% meer dan in 2014. Deze recordcijfers qua omzet en bedrijfswinst betekenen dat Volvo Car Group kan blijven investeren in het wereldwijde transformatieplan.
Over Volvo Car Group
Volvo is actief sinds 1927. Vandaag is Volvo Cars een van de bekendste en meest gerespecteerde automerken ter wereld. In 2015 werden 503 127 Volvo's verkocht in ongeveer 100 landen. Sinds 2010 is Volvo Cars eigendom van Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) uit China. Het bedrijf maakte deel uit van de Zweeds Volvo Group tot 1999, wanneer het werd gekocht door het Amerikaanse Ford Motor Company. In 2010 werd Volvo Cars uiteindelijk overgenomen door Geely Holding.
In december 2015 stelde Volvo Cars wereldwijd meer dan 29.000 medewerkers tewerk. De hoofdzetel, productontwikkeling, marketing en administratie van Volvo Cars zijn grotendeels gevestigd in Göteborg, Zweden. Het hoofdkantoor van Volvo Cars voor China is gevestigd in Shanghai. De grootste autofabrieken van het bedrijf zijn gevestigd in Göteborg (Zweden), Gent (België) en Chengdu (China), terwijl de motoren worden gemaakt in Skövde (Zweden) en Zhangjiakou (China) en de carrosserie-onderdelen in Olofström (Zweden).
