Prince Carl Philip and Thed Björk started the Swedish GT season in the best possible way by claiming pole position and victory, beating the field of Audi, Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche drivers at Knutstorp in Sweden with their Volvo S60 Polestar race car.
Thed Björk claimed pole position for the first race despite rain hitting the track just minutes before qualifying. He then headed the field in his first race stint, pulling up a strong gap before handing it over to team-mate Prince Carl Philip.
“I am very happy to follow up my WTCC victory at Monza last weekend with this victory together with Prince Carl Philip. The car worked really well in the wet and I could hand over the car while leading, exactly as we planned. Prince Carl Philip drove really well and we have an exciting day ahead of us tomorrow,” said Thed Björk.
The Polestar Cyan Racing team called in Thed Björk for the driver change just as the safety car went out on track, handing Prince Carl Philip a big lead over the closest GTA class competitor.
Prince Carl Philip maintained the lead, winning the race by more than 16 seconds over the McLaren pair of Erik Behrens and Daniel Roos and 45 seconds over Audi driver Jan Brunstedt.
“The season could not have started in a better way. We managed to claim pole and win the race despite difficult conditions. The team did a really good job with the car and Thed proved that he is a four-time STCC champion. I am looking forward to the second race tomorrow, driving alone will of course mean a different strategy,” said Prince Carl Philip.
The victory has the par in the championship lead ahead of the second race tomorrow in which Prince Carl Philip will drive alone, starting second, with Thed Björk acting as advisor from the pits.
“A season opener victory is always great. Not only for the points, but also as a morale boost for the entire team to hit the ground running. Prince Carl Philip, Thed and the entire team did a really good job today,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
Follow the team during the second race at Knutstorp live timing, live commentary and more on our new Swedish GT site: http://swegt.polestar.com
STCC Knutstorp
Circuit: Ring Knutstorp
Length: 2079 m
Lap record (STCC): 0:58.184 (Kristoffersson)
Results
Race 1 – Top 5
1 Bernadotte/Björk Volvo S60 29 laps
2 Behrens/Roos McLaren 570S +16.457
3 Larsen/Rosén Ginetta G55 +30.186
4 Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra +44.965
5 Mäkinen/Krüger Ferrari 458 +1 lap
Qualifying 1 – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 1:05.709
2 Oscar Krüger Ferrari 458 +1.101
3 Philip Morin Porsche Cayman +1.910
4 Daniel Roos McLaren 570S +2.541
5 Fredrik Larsson Ferrari 488 +2.570
Qualifying 2 – Top 5
1 Jan Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra 1:05.282
2 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +1.885
3 Kari Mäkinen Ferrari 458 +2.634
4 Erik Behrens McLaren 570S +3.359
5 Linus Pröjtz Porsche Cayman +4.057
Championship standings
GTA – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 26 points
2 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 25 (-1)
3 Jan Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra 20 (-6)
4 Kari Mäkinen Ferrari 458 15 (-11)
4 Oscar Krüger Ferrari 458 15 (-11)
5 Ingvar Mattsson Ferrari 488 12 (-14)
5 Fredrik Larsson Ferrari 488 12 (-14)
Schedule
(Times in CET)
Thursday 4/5
16:00 Test (60 min)
Friday 5/5
11:00 Qualifying (30 min)
16:20 Race 1 (35 min + 1 lap)
Saturday 6/5
15:15 Race 2 (28 min + 1 lap)
TV Schedule
SVT 1 – Live 15:15 CET (Race 2)
2017 Swedish GT Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
GTA Class
7 – Kari Mäkinen – Euroracing – Ferrari 458
7 – Oscar Krüger – Euroracing – Ferrari 458
11 – Toni Persic – TPR Motorsport – Chevrolet Camaro
13 – Carl Philip Bernadotte – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60
13 – Thed Björk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60
98 – Jan Brunstedt – JB Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
99 – Ingvar Mattsson – Mattsson Motorsport – Ferrari 488
99 – Fredrik Larsson – Mattsson Motorsport – Ferrari 488
GTB Class
20 – Philip Morin – Mtech Competition – Porsche Cayman GT4
20 – Linus Pröjtz – Mtech Competition – Porsche Cayman GT4
21 – Håkan Ricknäs – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche Cayman GT4
21 – Thomas Martinson – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche Cayman GT4
31 – Hans Söderholm – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT4
31 – Marcus Söderholm – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT4
45 – Krister Andero – TBA – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
50 – Thomas Belfrage – Euroracing – Ferrari 360
51 – Peter Larsen – Primus Racing – Ginetta G55
51 – Johan Rosén – Primus Racing – Ginetta G55
60 – Franck Århage – Århage Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
65 – Bror Ellfolk – TBA – Ginetta G55
65 – Niclas Lindström – TBA – Ginetta G55
88 – Erik Behrens – Alfab Racing – McLaren 570S
88 – Daniel Roos – Alfab Racing – McLaren 570S
2017 Swedish GT Calendar
Date Circuit Country
04-06 May Knutstorp Sweden
07-09 July Falkenberg Sweden
11-13 August Karlskoga Sweden
01-03 September Anderstorp Sweden
14-16 September Mantorp Park Sweden
Contact Details
Johan Meissner, Press Manager
+46(0)70 241 3234
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 was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed seven STCC drivers’ titles and eight STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.
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Volvo Car Group in 2016
Voor het boekjaar 2016 liet Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) een bedrijfswinst optekenen van 11 miljard SEK (EUR 1,2 miljard), tegenover 6,6 miljard SEK (EUR 697 miljoen) in 2015. De omzet voor dit boekjaar bedroeg 180,7 miljard SEK (EUR 19,1 miljard), tegenover 164,0 miljard SEK (EUR 17,3 miljard) in 2015. In 2016 verkocht Volvo Car Group wereldwijd 534.332 auto's, ofwel 6,2% meer dan in 2015. 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 2016 werden 534.332 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 2016 stelde Volvo Cars wereldwijd meer dan 31.000 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).
