Volvo will join the Australian V8 Supercars touring car series in 2014, bolstering the number of manufacturers to five with Holden, Ford, Mercedes-AMG and Nissan. It also makes us intensely jealous of our Aussie counterparts.
Aussies are getting a toned down Polestar S60
As well as a V8 touring car, petrolheads Down Under are the only ones to receive a genuine Volvo S60 Polestar. It's not the
508hp monster
from last year, instead a tweaked
S60 T6
. Still, it boasts 350hp, 368lb ft, Ohlins dampers, a Borg Warner turbo and some Polestar suspension fettling; we'd rather like to try one. Especially as it's meant to do 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds.
But that's a campaign for another day. The S60 programme for next season is being mounted by Volvo Polestar Racing, comprising the two Swedish companies plus input from Garry Rogers Motorsport, a team that has experience with Holden. Polestar will produce the V8 engine, which will then be developed by Garry Rogers. The latter will also run the two racers throughout the season.
Volvo actually has a history in Australian saloon racing dating back to the 1960s. A 240T took the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship and it won the 1998 Bathurst 1000 with Rickard Rydell at the wheel of an S40. Murray Walker soundtracked vid clip here, if you want a flavour of that.
Swedish Touring Car Champ S60 by Polestar
Volvo Australia's Managing Director is Matt Braid. Of the announcement, he said: "Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country...we're determined to add to this heritage, while strengthening the presence of the S60 model line and the Volvo brand here in Australia".
Polestar owner Christian Dahl added: "We are very proud and excited to take on the V8 Supercars... a championship that has grown to become one of the most prestigious and competitive racing championships in the world".
Overall it serves to make our BTCC, with just two manufacturer teams, look rather naff by comparison. But then if the choice is being made between running a FWD, turbocharged touring car in Britain and a V8, RWD one in Australia, there probably wasn't much deliberation at Volvo.