Polestar pair on track and on the pace in the WTCC

Polestar Cyan Racing put its factory Volvo S60 TC1s up against its FIA World Touring Car Championship rivals for the first time in Italy this week and more than held its own.

Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom impressed during two days of official testing at Vallelunga with Ekblom fastest of all in Thursday’s third test session.

“We have waited for a long time to get on track with the competitors of the championship,” said Ekblom. “We worked through a lot of vital issues during the days, providing us with a lot of answers. There is still plenty of work ahead of us all season but the feeling is good ahead of the first race.”

Team-mate Björk added: “We have had two extremely valuable test days. While we can’t draw any real conclusions until the first race, it is satisfying to see that we straight out of the box are quite close to the top times.”

Volvo, through its performance brand Polestar, has made a long-term commitment to the WTCC from 2016.