Rookie-of-the-Year Scott McLaughlin admits helping Volvo develop into V8 Supercars race winners next season is the biggest challenge of his career to date.
The 20-year-old Kiwi proved to be one of the surprises of 2013 as he picked up two victories for Garry Rogers Motorsport in his debut year in V8 Supercars.
In doing so he also became the youngest driver to stand on the top step of the podium.
While 2013 presented McLaughlin a huge hurdle to clear, he feels next season will offer up an even bigger challenge as his GRM team transforms into the works Volvo Polestar Racing.
The arrival of the Swedish manufacturer to the grid will present McLaughlin with the task of developing from scratch the all-new Volvo V8 powered S60 V8 Supercar, which is yet to be officially unveiled.
“I think its going to be my biggest challenge yet”, McLaughlin told Speedcafe.com.
“Its going to be exciting. I think the car will be good but we have got to wait and see on the engine.
“We won’t know where we are at until the test day or maybe even Clipsal.
“Its hard to say how its going to go. At this moment I am a little nervous about it and I just want to get on with it.”
By joining the championship, Volvo will become the fifth marque to join the championship following in the footsteps of 2013 entries Nissan and Erebus (Mercedes).
Nissan and Erebus proved how hard the series is to crack for a new marque as they both struggled to make an impression on the sharp end of the field in their maiden year.
A controversial victory at Winton was Nissan’s best result while Erebus’ season highlight was a fourth placed finish at Sandown.
With that in mind, McLaughlin is fully aware that he may have to be patient for results in the early part of next season.
But he is also confident that Volvo will become a force to be reckoned with.
“We will take our time”, added McLaughlin.
“It may not happen for us as quick as we want it too but I’m sure it won’t take long before we get to the front as Volvo have put a lot of resources into this project.
“They don’t want to be down the back forever.”
Volvo Polestar Racing are yet to unveil its sponsors for 2014 and the identity of McLaughlin’s team-mate.
