Polestar Cyan Racing to the most challenging circuit in the world

Five fast facts

• The Nürburgring Nordschleife was opened in 1927

• Volvo won the Nürburgring GP ETCC race in 1985 with the 240 Turbo

• Both Thed and Fredrik have raced several 24 Hours of Nürburgring

• Stefan Bellof holds the Nordschleife lap record of 6:11.13

• Formula 1 raced at the Nordschleife until 1976

Both Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom have previous experience from the unique circuit that features no less than 170 turns and an altitude difference of 300 meters where legendary drivers such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Ronnie Peterson and Jackie Stewart have raced.

”Each lap is like the best rollercoaster in the world. There just is no place like it and I have huge respect for racing with the WTCC there. This is no doubt the highlight of the season from a driver's point of view,” said Thed Björk.

The WTCC race weekend is held alongside the legendary Nürburgring 24 hour race, a race that Ekblom won the S1 class of in 2008.

”I am very much looking forward to race on the Nürburgring again and to utilise my experience from racing there in the past. It is going to be really tough, especially as it will be the first time ever for the team on the track. I keep my expectations realistic as we are in our learning period of the championship and especially on such an unpredictable track as the Nürburgring where it can be sunshine on one part and torrential rain on another,” said Fredrik Ekblom.

The unique conditions of the Nürburgring Nordschleife mean that the two races will be of three laps each. While it might sound short, the 25-kilometre layout means that the drivers will complete more than 150 race kilometres on the most extreme racing circuit the world has got to offer.

Adding to the challenge is that the WTCC will race together with the FIA European Touring Car Championship, meaning a massive field of 38 cars.

”The track should theoretically suit our car but it is impossible to make any predictions as this is such a unique place as well as the high level of competition in the WTCC,” said Thed Björk.

The German race also marks the start of the second third of the 2016 WTCC season that so far has resulted in two top five finishes, seven top ten finishes and one Q3 qualifying session for Polestar Cyan Racing.

”With the knowledge gained from our first four races this year, on paper this track should suit us a lot better than the tight Marrakesh street circuit. Perhaps it’s a tall order to try to repeat the win from when Volvo raced here last time in the 1985 ETCC. But we will of course give our best and hope that Volvo and Polestar fans will enjoy the return of Volvo Car Group's unparalleled turbo powered race engine technology on the ’ring’,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

Action starts on Thursday with testing and practice, while qualifying is held on Friday and the two races on Saturday due to the joint race weekend with the Nürburgring 24 hours that starts straight after the final WTCC race.

WTCC Race of Germany

Circuit: Nürburgring Nordschleife

Length: 25278 m

Lap record (WTCC): 8:37.327 (López)

Schedule

(Times in CET)

Thursday 26/5

11:20 Testing (60 min)

18:45 Free Practice 1 (60 min)

Friday 27/5

08:15 Free Practice 2 (60 min)

12:45 Qualifying (60 min)

Saturday 28/5

11:20 Race 1 (3 laps)

12:45 Race 2 (3 laps)

Championship standings

Drivers

1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 138 pts

2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 124 (-14)

3 Rob Huff Honda Civic 98 (-40)

4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 85 (-53)

5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 83 (-55)

…

12 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 20 (-118)

13 Thed Björk Volvo S60 19 (-119)

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 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 (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.