No rest for Polestar Cyan Racing as hectic WTCC schedule continues in Slovakia

2016-04-13

There is no rest for the Polestar Cyan Racing team as Slovakia hosts the second FIA World Touring Car Championship race of 2016 this weekend, less than two weeks after the season start in France.

Five fast facts

• Slovakiaring was built in 2008

• Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom have prepared for Slovakiaring with a simulator

• WTCC has raced at Slovakiaring since 2012

• Polestar Cyan Racing scored World Championship points in both races of the season start

• The WTCC cars reaches over 240 km/h at the main straight of Slovakiaring

”We learned so much on such short time in France, something we bring with us to Slovakia where I hope we can take a big step forward,” said Thed Björk.

Thed Björk provided a thrilling drive up through the field in the first race of the season start, from last position to seventh, a momentum he is aiming to keep this weekend at Slovakiaring.

”Coming to Slovakia will be awesome and we have potential to improve on all areas. We have never been on this track before, but I have prepared my self by driving a simulator together with my team mate Fredrik,” said Björk.

Fredrik Ekblom had a challenging start to the WTCC season in France but managed to get back in the second race to score points.

”We got a lot of positive things with us from Paul Ricard. Coming to Slovakia will be a completely different thing with one race weekend behind us, enabling us to focus more on the details, and I am longing to get back out on track,” said Fredrik Ekblom.

The race weekend starts with testing on Friday, followed by practice and qualifying on Sunday and two races of 11 and 12 laps respectively, both broadcasted live on Eurosport.

”We have of course a lot of work ahead of us in a tight schedule. The season start was promising but was founded on far from ideal conditions when two of the three test sessions rained away and the team got compromised data to base the settings of the car. We have more to give than we were able to show and are therefore looking forward to the weekend,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

160331 Wtcc deltävling 1, Paul Ricard Frankrike. Volvo Polestar, Cyan Racing.

WTCC Race of Slovakia

Circuit: Slovakiaring

Length: 5922 m

Lap record (WTCC): 2:05.748, Tarquini

Schedule

(Times in CET)

Friday 15/4

12:30 Testing (30 min)

Saturday 16/4

08:45 Free Practice 1 (30 min)

11:30 Free Practice 2 (30 min)

14:00 Qualifying Q1 (20 min)

14:25 Qualifying Q2 (10 min)

14:40 Qualifying Q3 (20 min)

Sunday 17/4

12:10 Race 1 (11 laps)

14:15 Race 2 (12 laps)

Championship standings

Drivers

1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 38 pts

2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 34 (-4)

3 Rob Huff Honda Civic 33 (-5)

4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 30 (-8)

5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 22 (-16)

9 Thed Björk Volvo S60 6 (-32)

13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 1 (-37)

Manufacturers

1 Citroën 84 pts

2 Honda 83 (-1)

3 Lada 46 (-38)

4 Polestar 14 (-70)

TV Schedule

International: https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv/

Online: http://www.eurosportplayer.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 WTCC

12 – Rob Huff – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC

18 – Tiago Monteiro – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC

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 – René Münnich – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

89 – John Bryant-Meisner – Nika Racing – Chevrolet Cruze WTCC

99 – Dániel Nagy – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC

FIA World Touring Car Championship calendar 2016

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 (Circ. Internacional 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 International 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 five STCC drivers’ titles and seven STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.

160331 Wtcc deltävling 1, Paul Ricard Frankrike. Volvo Polestar, Cyan Racing.