This was published 7 years ago
Garry Rogers Motorsport's Volvo S60 racers set to be powered by Chevrolet V8 engines
By Mark Fogarty
Volvo's withdrawal from Supercars is likely to result in their cars continuing to race this year with engines from another manufacturer.
Garry Rogers Motorsport's pair of Volvo S60 racers will be powered by Chevrolet V8s if legal action to restore the team's factory backing is unsuccessful.
With the first pre-season test more than a month away, neither S60 racer has a motor fitted.Credit: Getty Images
It would be the first time in Australian touring car championship history that a car was allowed to compete with an engine from a different maker.
GRM may be forced to change engines because Volvo has demanded the return of the motors developed by its Polestar racing division for the three-year Supercars program.
The team needs approval to use the production-based Volvo V8 for another season because the Chinese-owned Swedish car maker holds the rights to the engine.
What will power the S60s is bound up in the legal dispute over Volvo's decision to pull out of Supercars at the end of last season, ending a successful partnership that won races.
Volvo was the third new make to enter Supercars in 2014, the second year of the Car Of The Future rules that allowed models other than Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores for the first time in two decades.
Three seasons in Supercars helped transform Volvo's image in Australia, counteracting the stereotype of safe-but-boring cars.
GRM has challenged the withdrawal, claiming Volvo had indicated it would renew its backing right up until last May's announcement, leaving the team without enough time to a secure alternative manufacturer support for this year.
Volvo's withdrawal also prompted the departure of GRM's star driver Scott McLaughlin, who has joined DJR Team Penske on a big-money multi-year deal.
McLaughlin has been replaced by veteran Garth Tander, returning to the team where he started his V8 career on a two-year driving deal alongside James Moffat, who is in the final season of his existing agreement.
A mediation hearing last month failed to resolve the impasse with Volvo and GRM's claims are due to go before the federal court in Melbourne from February 15-17.
The team wants Volvo to continue its backing this season, but at the very least, is seeking agreement to continue using the Polestar-developed V8s.
"We've never, ever disputed that the engines are Polestar's," team owner Garry Rogers told Fairfax Media. "We just want to extend their use in the cars."
The South Dandenong-based team, which won two races and finished third in the Supercars' championship with McLaughlin last year, has prepared for the possibility of not being able to continue with Volvo engines by applying to Supercars for permission to use an alternative powerplant.
GRM last month sought official approval to race its Volvo S60s with the same Chevrolet V8 used in the Holden Commodore if necessary – a request that is expected to be granted.
Rogers confirmed that the Chev V8 would be the alternative if efforts to continue with the Volvo engine were unsuccessful.
With the first pre-season test more than a month away, neither S60 racer has a motor fitted and the team has Chev V8s – which it used in the Commodores it raced before switching to Volvo in 2014 – ready to install as well as the existing Volvo units.
The common Supercars chassis is designed to accept multiple engines and the first track tests of the Volvo S60 were undertaken with a Chevrolet V8.
Although he wants to keep using the Volvo V8, Rogers admitted that changing to the proven Chev engine wouldn't compromise the S60's performance.
If GRM is forced to substitute a different engine, it will be the first time Supercars has permitted a car to race with a motor not from the same manufacturer.
From this year, the new Gen2 rules allow engines other than V8s, but they weren't intended to accommodate a Volvo powered by a Chevrolet V8 – a special version developed for Holden to use in Supercars, allowed as both are part of General Motors – or any other car/engine hybrid.
Pit lane wags will be quick to dub the re-engined S60s as Volvolets, Holvos or even Voldens.