Polestar Cyan Racing will arrive to the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) Race of China this weekend with previous experience of the circuit for the first time this season. Reigning four-time STCC champion Thed Björk raced for the team at Shanghai International Circuit in the 2013 WTCC.
”I have a good feeling heading to a track where I have raced at recently and it is going to be interesting to see what effect that will have on our results. We have made some progress over the last races and I think we are in for a strong showing,” said Thed Björk.
Fredrik Ekblom will join Björk as team-mate for the races in China, just as they have been in the STCC from 2013 to 2015.
”I am really excited ahead of the weekend. The track seems to be amazing, Thed has been there before and has given me some feedback. I can’t wait to start racing in the WTCC again,” said Fredrik Ekblom.
Polestar Cyan Racing made a one-off appearance in the 2013 WTCC season at Shanghai International Raceway with the Volvo C30, showing strong form, meaning vital data for the team to start the weekend on.
”We had a strong weekend in Japan three weeks ago and we hope to continue on at least the same level, especially with the previous data on the circuit. However, we must not forget that this is a world championship and we need to be on the very edge. China is an important market for us with a lot of guests on site and we hope to offer our fans two exciting races,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
Follow the team during the race weekend in China at: http://wtcc.polestar.com
WTCC Race of China
Circuit: Shanghai International Circuit
Length: 4630 m
Lap record (WTCC): 1:50.833 (Hua)
Schedule
(Times in CET)
Friday 23/9
11:00 Shakedown (30 min)
Saturday 24/9
03:00 Free Practice 1 (30 min)
05:00 Free Practice 2 (30 min)
08:30 Qualifying (60 min)
Sunday 25/9
08:35 Race 1 (14 laps)
09:50 Race 2 (15 laps)
Championship standings
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 319 points
2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 199 (-120)
3 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 199 (-120)
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic 178 (-141)
5 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 172 (-147)
…
12 Thed Björk Volvo S60 55 (-264)
13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 35 (-284)
15 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 12 (-307)
TV Schedule
International: https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv/
Online: http://premium.fiawtcc.com
2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
3 – Tom Chilton – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
7 – Hugo Valente – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
10 – Nicky Catsburg – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
11 – Grégoire Demoustier – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée
12 – Rob Huff – Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic
25 – Mehdi Bennani – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
37 – José María López – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
55 – Ferenc Ficza – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Fredrik Ekblom – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yvan Muller – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
77 – James Thompson – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
99 – Dániel Nagy – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2016 Calendar
1-3 April FIA WTCC Race of France (Circuit Paul Ricard)
15-17 April FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia (Slovakia Ring)
22-24 April FIA WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring)
7-8 May FIA WTCC Race of Morocco (Moulay El Hassan, Marrakech) S
26-28 May FIA WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife)
10-12 June FIA WTCC Race of Russia (Moscow Raceway)
24-26 June FIA WTCC Race of Portugal (Circuit de Vila Real) S
5-7 August FIA WTCC Race of Argentina (Circ. Termas de Río Hondo)
2-4 September FIA WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi)
23-25 September FIA WTCC Race of China (Shanghai Int. Circuit)
4-6 November FIA WTCC Race of Thailand (Chang International Circuit)
23-25 November FIA WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit) N
S = Street race
N = Night Race
About Polestar
Polestar is the performance brand of Volvo Cars. The company was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships, racing with various Volvo models. In 2009, Polestar started to offer performance related products and thereby intensified the business relations with Volvo Cars. The first performance cars, based on Volvo’s S60 and V60, were launched in 2014.
In 2015, Volvo Cars acquired the performance unit of Polestar, as a strong commitment towards a credible performance offer and with the mission to define future premium performance.
About Cyan Racing
Cyan Racing is the motorsport partner to Polestar. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed six STCC drivers’ titles and eight STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.