Volvo end 2016 on a high with best qualifying and a podium

The Polestar Cyan Racing squad ended the 2016 at the front, after Thed Björk, fresh from his win last time out in China, put the S60 Polestar on the front row for the main race at the Losail circuit in Qatar, and followed it up with second place between the Citroëns of Mehdi Bennani and José María López.

Björk powered through to finish sixth in the opening race from ninth on the grid, while he kept second in race two, retaking López after losing the spot to the Argentinian at the start, and then challenged the Sébastien Loeb Racing-run Citroën of Mehdi Bennani throughout, but was unable to stop the Moroccan from securing his third win in the championship.

“First, I was really happy with the qualifying, starting second,” said Björk. “I tried to do a really good start, but it was not easy to get up alongside Mehdi and I even lost a place to José so went down to third position and then had to fight to get past.

“I really had the speed and I enjoyed that José saw I was pushing and gave me a really good gap and I could go for it, so this is big respect and I’m happy for this. Then I started to chase Mehdi and I just wanted to win because I know how good it feels. I was pushing really hard and did all I could. I thought I had really good speed in the car, I got close to Mehdi but it’s not easy to be close to the other car so I just waited and tried to see if he did a mistake. But he kept the whole race together with no mistakes and really deserved the win so I’m really happy for him.

“I’m also really happy for the team because of the second place, all the guys, the mechanics, working really hard. It feels really good to have the Volvo up there and now in qualifying so we’re just really, really happy.”

Björk’s result moves him into the top ten in the final standings of the 2016 WTCC drivers’ championship, six points clear of Tom Coronel and 30 behind Lada’s Gabriele Tarquini.