Polestar Cyan Racing will field an all-Swedish driver line-up in the 2016 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), with Swedish champions Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom moving to the world stage with the team.
Both drivers, who have 12 major titles between them, have signed multi-year contracts with the team, who will be contesting their first multi-car full-season in the WTCC.
”We have an ideal line-up with Thed and Fredrik for the first year of our new WTCC assault,” said Polestar’s Head of Motorsport Murdzevski Schedvin. “Both are solid on outright speed, race craft and they are extremely well aligned in-between and with the engineering team regarding catching up with quickest in the championship.”
Björk moves up to the WTCC off the back of securing a third consecutive Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) title in 2015.
”To begin a new chapter of racing with Polestar Cyan Racing and Sweden in a world championship is a dream come true,” said Björk, who has one previous WTCC start to his name in China in 2013. “This is the most excited and motivated I have been for a season in my entire career.
“I have no doubt we have what it takes to work our way to the top fight and the season start cannot come soon enough.”
Like Björk, Ekblom has also previously competed in the WTCC, although his attempts date back to nine years ago in 2007 when he contested six races. Ekblom was Björk’s main rival for the 2015 STCC title.
”To race in the WTCC has been my goal ever since joining Polestar Cyan Racing in 2012 and I am proud to represent the team in a world championship,” said Ekblom. “We have an amazing journey ahead of us and I will put everything to it.
“Whilst we have a lot of development work ahead of us to catch up with the front-runners, we will be pushing hard from the first race.”
Polestar Cyan Racing CEO Christian Dahl believes that he has selected two of the best touring car drivers in the world, and saw no reason to move away from the tried-and-tested line-up which he has worked with previously.
”Thed and Fredrik are two of the very best touring car drivers in the world and they have achieved remarkable results for us in the past,” explained Dahl. “Both of them have played a vital part in the development of our new race car and I am keen to see them start our journey towards the top of the FIA World Touring Car Championship.”
The team’s third development driver, Robert Dahlgren, will race in the STCC in 2016 but will continue to play a part in development for the WTCC project.