Thed Björk and Polestar Cyan Racing wrote history today to claim two FIA World Touring Car Championship titles in the season finale at Losail International Circuit, Qatar.
Thed Björk has become the first ever Swedish racing World Champion as Volvo Cars, Polestar and Cyan Racing claim their maiden motorsport World Titles.
”To become the first ever Swedish racing World Champion is something I have dreamt about since I started racing! I can’t put words to my feelings right now but this is by far the greatest moment of my racing career. The season final went according to our plans and a massive thank you to everyone in the team, they are as much World Champions as I am!” said Thed Björk.
Nicky Catsburg ended the season on the podium with third position in the final race of 2017 as four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller also brought vital points to the team from both races.
”A massive thank you to everyone in the team and congratulations to Thed, you are a very worthy champion. I am very happy to see this outcome after the struggles we had at the beginning of the weekend. I had a good final race and to end the season with a podium feels great,” said Nicky Catsburg.
”Thed has really earnt this World Title and the team has done a great job this season. We had a good final race weekend of the season and we managed to fulfil the goals we had set up ahead of it. I am proud of everyone in the team,” said Yvan Muller.
Two flawless races in Qatar saw Thed Björk finishing the season as drivers’ champion by 28,5 points over title rival Norbert Michelisz, and Polestar Cyan Racing as manufacturers’ champions by the same margin over Honda.
”We entered the championship last year with a five-year plan to become World Champions. We did it in just two years. We have exceeded all of our expectations and goals this season. Thed Björk has done an awesome job this season and is a worthy champion. The team has put down thousands and thousands of hours to together claim the World Title, I can’t thank them enough. This is the proudest moment in the history of our team and I am so proud to be able to say that we are the World Champions!” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
For more information on the 2017 WTCC season: wtcc.polestar.com
WTCC Race of Qatar
Circuit: Losail International Circuit
Length: 5380 m
Lap record (WTCC): 2:01.628 (López)
Results
Race 1 – Top 5
1 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée 10 laps
2 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +2.175
3 Kevin Gleason Lada Vesta +6.178
4 John Filippi Citroën C-Elysée +7.054
5 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +7.571
…
6 Yvan Muller Volvo S60 +7.945
8 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +9.248
Race 2 – Top 5
1 Esteban Guerrieri Honda Civic 12 laps
2 Rob Huff Citroën C-Elysée +3.708
3 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +7.319
4 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +7.466
5 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +8.785
…
7 Yvan Muller Volvo S60 +11.459
Final Championship Standings
Drivers’ – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 283,5 pts – CHAMPION
2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 255 (-28,5)
3 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée 248,5 (-35)
4 Esteban Guerrieri Honda Civic 241 (-42,5)
5 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 238,5 (-45)
…
9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 112 (-171,5)
15 Yvan Muller Volvo S60 16 (-267,5)
Manufacturers’
1 Volvo 908,5 pts – CHAMPIONS
2 Honda 880 (-28,5)
Compensation weights for Qatar
Model – Time difference – Weight
Volvo S60 Polestar – 0.0 sec – +80kg
Honda Civic – +0.0 sec – +80kg
Citroën C-Elysée – +0.2 sec – +60kg
Chevrolet Cruze – +0.7 sec – +10kg
Lada Vesta – +0.7 sec – +10kg
TV Schedule
https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv
http://www.eurosportplayer.com
2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
22 – Manuel Fernandes – POR – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
34 – Ryo Michigami – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Yvan Muller – FRA – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2017 Calendar
WTCC Race of Morocco (Marrakech): 7-9 April
WTCC Race of Italy (Monza): 28-30 April
WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring): 12-14 May
WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife): 25-27 May
WTCC Race of Portugal (Vila Real): 23-25 June
WTCC Race of Argentina (Termas de Río Hondo): 15-16 July
WTCC Race of China (Shanghai Ningbo Circuit): 13-15 October
WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi): 27-29 October
WTCC Race of Macau (Circuit de Guia): 17-19 November
WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit): 30 November-1 December
Contact details for the Polestar Public Relations and Communications team
Duncan Forrester, Public Relations and Communications
Johan Meissner, Media Relations
Sunnie Zhang, Public Relations and Communications, China
John Paolo Canton, Public Relations and Communications, Americas
About Polestar
Polestar is Volvo Car Group’s performance road car brand. On 17 October 2017, Polestar became a new separately-branded electric performance car company, offering a portfolio of bespoke Polestar cars. Polestar will enjoy specific technological and engineering synergies with Volvo Cars and benefit from significant economies of scale as a result of its connection to Volvo. These synergies will allow it to design, develop and build world beating electrified high performance cars far faster than other new entrants into the market.
Polestar also builds the S60 and V60 Polestar, 367hp performance road cars with over 250 developments over-and-above the standard Volvo products through its Polestar Engineered offering. It also offers Polestar Engineered performance hardware upgrades and engine software optimisations for existing Volvo products.
About Cyan Racing
Founded in 1996 and today known as Cyan Racing, the privately owned and operated company has been Volvo Car Group’s official team in motorsport since its conception. Cyan Racing has claimed multiple titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60. Today, the company enjoys success on track with the Polestar road car brand as Polestar Cyan Racing in pursuit of both the World Touring Car Championship and Swedish GT, racing the Volvo S60 Polestar road going performance car.
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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).
