Volvo is set to make a ‘significant announcement’ at this weekend’s Sydney 500 ahead of its entry into the V8 Supercars Championship in 2014.
The manufacturer has issued a media call for Friday morning at the Sydney Olympic Park venue, but is giving away no details on what will be revealed.
The manufacturer confirmed in June that it will enter the class next year with two S60 sedans run by current Holden privateer outfit Garry Rogers Motorsport, which will be rebranded Volvo Polestar Racing.
Now less than three months from the start of the new season, a team-mate to partner Scott McLaughlin, a replacement major sponsor for the departing Fujitsu and the look of the race car are all yet to be confirmed.
The first S60 V8 Supercar’s bodywork was recently completed in GRM’s Melbourne workshop ahead of an expected mid-December test debut, leaving open the possibility that it could break cover in Sydney.
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Nissan ran demonstrations with its Altima in Sydney last year, although had first revealed it to media a month earlier, away from the distraction of the championship battle.
The mystery behind Volvo’s second seat has meanwhile lurked largely under the radar amid a silly season dominated by Racing Entitlements Contract movements and the defection of Will Davison to Erebus Motorsport.
Incumbent Alexandre Premat remains adamant that he will continue for a third year, insisting that he has a contract for the new season when asked about his status at Phillip Island.
Volvo’s performance arm Polestar meanwhile has publicly expressed its desire for a known Swedish quantity in order to assist development.
One of its Scandinavian Touring Car Championship stars, Robert Dahlgren, has repeatedly been linked to the program in the wake of his appearance at the June launch.
The 34-year-old has been a Polestar driver for 10 years and was relied upon to spearhead the company’s modest World Touring Car Championship attack in 2011.
Dahlgren finished third in this year’s STCC behind Polestar’s champion Thed Björk and BMW driver Richard Göransson.
Former GP2 and DTM driver Premat has shown flashes of speed during his two V8 Supercars seasons to date, but has repeatedly been caught up in incidents.
He sits 20th in the points standings heading to Sydney after finishing his rookie season 28th.
V8 Supercars’ other current international, German Maro Engel, is already without a drive for next season after the confirmation that Erebus will scale back to two cars.
