Volvo came very close to entering the British Touring Car Championship 2010 with Jason Plato as driver. But the Swedish manufacturer has shelved the plans.
"There is always a lot of cost involved with a racing programme and there were some things from the financial and sponsorship side that just didn't come together in time," said Volvo Motorsport boss Derek Crabb to Autosport.
While Volvo has shelved the plans for BTCC 2010, they are not ruling out something for the coming years with the British championship.
"I'm not ruling out the BTCC after 2010. It's got a huge appeal internationally that the STCC doesen't have, which is very attractive to us," said Crabb.
Instead Plato looks set to continue with the Chevrolet team RML in the BTCC 2010.
"We aren't ready to announce any drivers, but certainly Jason will be top of our list if we do manage to do it," said RML commercial director Rupert Manwaring.
RML is aiming to field two Chevrolet Cruze in the BTCC this season, but has not finalized the plans yet.
"We'd like to enter with two Cruzes and we're working hard to make sure that happens, just as we're trying to gather all the partners together to make sure we can run for Chevrolet too," said Manwaring.
According to information to TouringCarTimes.com, Plato is likely to get Alex McDowell as team mate at RML this year in the BTCC.
