Polestar Cyan Racing is entering a critical stage of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season this weekend on the toughest circuit in the world, the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife, spanning over 25 kilometres per lap and attracting over a quarter of a million race fans.
This race weekend is the fourth of ten this season, with pressure on all three Polestar Cyan Racing drivers - Nicky Catsburg, Thed Björk and Néstor Girolami to deliver as the gaps in the driver’s championship start to open up.
“The points are in your mind, especially as Honda has started to talk tactics with Norbert to support Tiago who is leading the championship. I think this weekend is a good opportunity to step up our results with the ambition to beat Tiago twice to gain points back on him. The Nürburgring suits our car and victory is definitely the goal,” said Nicky Catsburg who is second in the drivers’ championship.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife is considered to be the toughest racing circuit in the world, featuring over 150 corners, a height difference of 300 meters and variable weather conditions on different parts of the circuit.
Thed Björk continued; “The circuit is amazing - there is no better place on earth. My focus is bringing the feeling and speed from Monza. The goal for the weekend is to outscore our rivals and I have no doubt that we can deliver just that.”
Néstor Girolami had a frustrating weekend in Hungary two weeks ago, again retiring from a podium position after being hit by a competitor. The Argentinian is also facing his toughest challenge so far this year as he has never raced on the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife before.
“The Nürburgring Nordschleife is always a challenge, but of course especially challenging for the first time. I have prepared by driving on the circuit in the simulator and I feel confident ahead of the weekend. We need to show our speed this weekend and take a lot of points,” said Néstor Girolami.
The previous WTCC race weekend at Hungaroring saw plenty of incidents, indicating that the fight for the World Title is growing tougher for each weekend.
“We have completed three race weekends and you can tell that the gloves are slowly coming off between drivers and teams. And things will only get tougher as the season progresses. We are definitely looking forward to the Nürburgring as the car performed really well here last year and we hope for a strong result,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
Follow the team during the race weekend at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with live commentary, timing and more: http://wtcc.polestar.com
WTCC Race of Germany
Circuit: Nürburgring Nordschleife + GP circuit
Length: 25378 m
Lap record (WTCC): 8:40.688 (López)
Championship Standings
Drivers’ – Top 5
1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 123 pts
2 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 85 (-38)
3 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée 81 (-42)
4 Thed Björk Volvo S60 77 (-46)
5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 73 (-50)
…
9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 52 (-71)
Manufacturers’
1 Volvo 294 pts
2 Honda 282 (-12)
Compensation weights for Germany
Model – Time difference – Weight
Volvo S60 Polestar – 0.0 sec – +80 kg
Citroën C-Elysée – +0.0 sec – +80 kg
Honda Civic – 0.1 sec – +70 kg
Chevrolet Cruze – +0.5 sec – +30 kg
Lada Vesta +1.4 sec +0 kg
TV Schedule
https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv
http://www.eurosportplayer.com
2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
34 – Ryo Michigami – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Néstor Girolami – ARG – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2017 Calendar
WTCC Race of Morocco (Marrakech): 7-9 April
WTCC Race of Italy (Monza): 28-30 April
WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring): 12-14 May
WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife): 25-27 May
WTCC Race of Portugal (Vila Real): 23-25 June
WTCC Race of Argentina (Termas de Río Hondo): 15-16 July
WTCC Race of China (Shanghai Ningbo Circuit): 13-15 October
WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi): 27-29 October
WTCC Race of Macau (Circuit de Guia): 17-19 November
WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit): 30 November-1 December
Contact Details
Johan Meissner, Press Manager
+46(0)70 241 3234
About Polestar
Polestar is Volvo Car Group’s performance road car brand and was founded by Polestar Racing, today known as Cyan Racing. Polestar’s birth was a result of Cyan Racing’s race engineers desire to explore how technology behind the multiple title-winning success in racing could be applied to the performance of road going Volvo cars, on all roads and conditions in everyday life. The first road-going performance Concepts were launched in 2010 and the first performance cars, based on the Volvo S60 and V60, were ready in 2012. In 2015, Volvo Cars acquired Polestar Performance. Today, Polestar builds the S60 and V60 Polestar, a 367-hp performance road car with over 250 developments over-and-above the standard Volvo products. It also offers Polestar Engineered performance hardware upgrades and powertrain software optimisations for existing Volvo products.
About Cyan Racing
Founded in 1996 and today known as Cyan Racing, the privately owned and operated company has been Volvo Car Group’s official team in motorsport since its conception. Cyan Racing has claimed multiple titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60. Today, the company enjoys success on track with the Polestar road car brand as Polestar Cyan Racing in pursuit of both the World Touring Car Championship and Swedish GT, racing the Volvo S60 Polestar road going performance car.
About Polestar Cyan Racing
Polestar Cyan Racing is Volvo Car Group’s official motorsport team. Polestar is Volvo Car Group’s performance road car brand and was founded by Polestar Racing, today known as Cyan Racing. Polestar’s birth was a result of Cyan Racing’s race engineers desire to explore how technology behind the multiple title-winning success in racing could be applied to the performance of road going Volvo cars, on all roads and conditions in everyday life. Since its inception, Cyan Racing has been Volvo Car Group’s official team in motorsport. Cyan Racing has multiple titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.