Volvo to enter V8 Supercars

Volvo will return to top level Australian motorsport in 2014, with two S60 Polestar-based racers fielded by Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM). 

The long-time Holden-affiliated team will make the switch to Volvo-bodied racers, with official factory backing from the Swedish manufacturer announced this morning at the press launch of the S60 Polestar road car in Brisbane. 

The announcement was made by Volvo Car Australia Managing Director Matt Braid, with new V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton, V8 Supercars Commission Chairman Mark Skaife, GRM owner Garry Rogers, MD and Polestar owner Christian Dahl, Executive Motorsport Director of Volvo Car Group Derek Crabb, and Volvo Car Group Vice President International Thomas Andersson also present.

"Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country. As the first luxury car brand to enter a factory team in the V8 Supercars Championship, we're determined to add to this heritage, while strengthening the presence of the S60 model line and the Volvo brand here in Australia," Braid said.

James Warburton welcomed Volvo's involvement in the V8 Supercar series: "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."

Derek Crabb spoke of Polestar's international motorsport heritage: "Polestar has been Volvo Car Group's global performance and motorsport partner since 1996, and has campaigned Volvos in the World Touring Car Championship, the European Touring Car Championship and, currently, the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. We are extremely happy to see Polestar enter this collaboration with Garry Rogers Motorsport for Volvo Car Australia."

The Volvo V8 Supercar entry will join Polestar's current involvement in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and the Pirelli World Challenge in the United States, as Volvo works to establish the Polestar performance brand as a rival to the likes of Merecedes' AMG and BMW's M division.

Volvo will develop a 5.0 litre version of its Yamaha-designed 4.4 litre V8 engine for the V8 Supercar campaign, which has previously been available in the in the S80 and XC90 production models.

V8 Supercar regulations permit new manufacturers to use either the Ford or Chevrolet-based units used by Ford and Holden teams, but Volvo will follow Nissan and Erebus AMG in using a bespoke unit.

Volvo is not without pedigree in top-level Australian motorsport, after Robbie Francevic won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1986, and multiple Super Tourer entries in the late 90s.  These Super Tourer entries were highlighted by the involvement of Australian touring car legends Peter Brock and Jim Richards, with the latter winning the 2.0 Bathurst 1000 event in 1998 in an S40.

Volvo will be the fifth manufacturer to enter the V8 Supercar series, after Nissan Motorsport and the privately entered Erebus AMG outfits joined the championship this year with the category's shift to Car of The Future specifications.

The new Volvo-badged team will race under the banner Volvo Polestar Racing, in a similar rebranding to Kelly Racing becoming Nissan Motorsport earlier this year. V8 Supercars continues to seek further manufacturers to join the series, in a bid to future-proof the series against the uncertain future of Holden and Ford's factory involvement. 

This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn