Volvo First Out With Ethanol E85 in the WTCC

Volvo Car Corporation enters its Swedish Touring Car Championship team Polestar at Anderstorp on July 28-29 to support WTCC´s green agenda.

Volvo Car Corporation has decided to enter one car at the FIA WTCC round at Anderstorp on July 28-29. Robert Dahlgren, currently in second place in the STCC, will drive his green and white Ethanol E85 powered Volvo S60 Flexfuel racer.

“This idea arose after WTCC declared its green agenda. Since environmental concern is a core value of Volvo, WTCC really hit our sweet-spot by giving a green light to alternative fuels. This is the main reason for our presence at Anderstorp - to show that we support this initiative. Therefore, we have asked not to race for points.” – says Derek Crabb, Director of Motorsport at Volvo Car Corporation

In Motorsport, where time seems to pass very quickly, it is now history that Volvo was the first brand in a FIA Super 2000 regulation championship to bet its name officially on alternative fuels. In the late fall of 2006, Volvo Cars Sweden managed to reach an understanding with STCC and the Swedish Motorsport Authority that would allow teams to use alternative fuels in the STCC, also a FIA Super 2000 regulations championship.

Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Motorsport Manager Volvo Cars Sweden recalls - We took on the challenge to go with ethanol for the 2007 season immediately and it is safe to say that a few eyebrows were raised since all expertise said you would loose performance if you switched petrol for ethanol in the FIA Super 2000 regulations. I am very happy we could prove otherwise and we hope this is just the start as was the case when Volvo, contrary to racing expertise of that time, pioneered catalytic converters in the BTCC in the early nineties.

With an immediate pair of wins, Volvo is a prime contender for the STCC title in 2007 . But even though the competitors are used to see the green back end of the Volvo S60 in STCC this season, Derek Crabb is cautious about any result predictions for WTCC at Anderstorp.

From a pure racing perspective, we know that Polestar and Robert will be at a disadvantage using a type of a tyre of which they have very limited experience. It will also be a disadvantage with our front wheel drive due to the standing start procedures used in WTCC compared to the neutral rolling starts used in STCC.

But this is not the main point with the race for us. We wish to show that there is a more environmental friendly alternative available for WTCC today that is competitive.

[source: stcc.se]