V8 Supercars: Volvo Confirms GRM Partnership

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Volvo has officially confirmed that they will team up with Garry Rogers Motorsport for the 2014 International V8 Supercar season. The announcement follows a week of heavy speculation surrounding the Swedish manufacturer’s intentions in relation to Australian motorsport.

The Melbourne-based Garry Rogers Motorsport outfit is intending to field two entries based on the Volvo S60 road car, and will be renamed “Volvo Polestar Racing” with factory backing from the Swedish marque. The team will aim to begin testing of next year’s cars in the latter half of 2013.

The announcement was made at an exclusive media event held in Brisbane, with Polestar managing director Christian Dahl, vice president Tomas Andersson and Australian managing director Matt Braid present at today’s launch. The announcement was all but a formality after Dahl was spotted in the Garry Rogers Motorsport garage during the Skycity Triple Crown at Hidden Valley last weekend.

“I’m delighted to announce our return to motorsport in Australia,” said Matt Braid, Volvo Cars Australia managing director. “Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country, including winning Australia’s most famous race, Bathurst, 15 years ago this coming October”.

Polestar managing director, Christian Dahl, added “We are very proud and excited to take on the V8 Supercars together with Volvo Car Australia and Garry Rogers Motorsport, a championship that has grown to become one of the most prestigious and competitive racing championships in the world. Polestar will do our absolute best to add Volvo knowledge, engineering and development strengths to the already competent team at Garry Rogers Motorsport.”

Newly appointed V8 Supercar CEO, James Warburton, echoed the excitement surrounding Volvo’s announcement. “To have another prestigious brand like Volvo in our sport is a red letter day for V8 Supercars. I am extremely delighted to have Volvo in our sport and congratulate Garry and his team on becoming the official Volvo factory team in V8 Supercars”.

The Swedish manufacturer will attempt to use the category as a platform to project a fresher and sportier reputation for their brand, and coincides with a limited production run of high performance S60 road cars to be sold in Australia shortly.

The S60 V8 Supercar entries will feature a modified version of Volvo’s 4.4 litre V8 production engine, instead of using the standard Chevrolet engine which is available to prospective manufacturers looking to join the category. The engine is already under development at Polestar’s headquarters.

The Swedish marque will look to build on their already successful history in Australian motorsport. Robbie Francevic won the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship in the iconic 240 Turbo, while the marque has also tasted victory at the Bathurst 1000 in 1999. Additionally, Jim Richards piloted an S40 to victory in the 1998 Australian Super Touring Car Championship, which featured a range of prestigious manufacturers including Audi and BMW.

Volvo will be the fifth manufacturer to compete in the International V8 Supercar series under the newly implemented “Car of the Future” regulations. They will join Nissan and Mercedes, who entered the category at the beginning of 2013 alongside the traditional sparring partners in Holden and Ford.

Image: The Motor Report
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As a Volvo junkie I am thrilled with this news. Can't wait to see the first videos of the car testing in that brilliant Polestar Blue livery.

Lets hope the team will use this as the dominant color for their race car as well.

But with regards to that engine. What current Volvo uses a 4.4L V8?
 
happy days.
I can see them doing well, GRM right now is punching above it's weight in regards to budget so well, so with factory backing these guys will be great
 
As a Volvo junkie I am thrilled with this news. Can't wait to see the first videos of the car testing in that brilliant Polestar Blue livery.

Lets hope the team will use this as the dominant color for their race car as well.

But with regards to that engine. What current Volvo uses a 4.4L V8?
I think the S80 does.
The XC90? Is there still V8 version? The engine that Noble M600 uses
 
Isn't the picture there showing a STCC Volvo. Doesn't mean it will look like that in V8's. But at the same time, doesn't mean it will look to different either!
I was about to say the same thing. I think that the rear wing will be different and there will be less aero in general (e.g. down the sides), so perhaps a 'simplified' version of that car...
 

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