As it turns out, Volvo’s celebration of the 240 Turbo’s 1985 European Touring Car Championship title was part of the build-up for a major announcement.

The automaker today said that Polestar Cyan Racing will enter the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in 2016 with two Volvo S60 Polestar race cars as start of a multi-year program.

”We have chosen the FIA WTCC as our global motorsport platform as it combines the cutting edge technology of our Volvo cars with exciting racing all over the world. The championship enables us to further develop our technology and utilise development from the racing circuits directly to our products for performance oriented Volvo customers,” said Niels Möller, COO of Polestar, the Volvo Cars Performance Brand.

Polestar Cyan Racing will try to win the world title with the brand new Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 race car. ”This is a great day for all of us at Polestar Cyan Racing to announce our assault on the FIA World Touring Car Championship, a program that boils down to one thing; to bring the world title to Sweden,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Polestar, the Volvo Cars Performance Brand. The cooperation started in 1996 and has resulted in six STCC driver titles and seven team titles, including a double 2015 STCC title for the third year in succession.

2016 will mark the start of the Polestar Cyan Racing’s first multi-year program in a world championship, following an evaluation season in the 2011 WTCC and two seasons in the Australian V8 Supercars.

Volvo says the all-new S60 Polestar TC1 race car carries the legacy of the 240 Turbo, featuring a newly developed 400hp 4-cylinder turbo engine based on the new Drive-E Volvo engine family.

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