Dahlgren happy with Volvo’s first points at Zolder

Robert Dahlgren picked up Volvo’s first points in the WTCC at Zolder with seventh place in race two, fighting with the SEATs throughout both races

The Polestar Racing team are eligible for points for the first time in the WTCC this season after several one-off appearances in the previous years, taking a best fifth place finish at Okayama last October.

Dahlgren’s seventh place finish from eighth on the grid in race two in Belgium put the Swedish driver up to 13th place in the standings with six points.

“I think we did a good job with what we have at the moment, this is the race pace, we’re very pleased with it,” said Dahlgren to TouringCarTimes.

Dahlgren was primarily involved in battles with the SEATs during the two races, running close to the Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT León of Aleksei Dudukalo in the closing stages of race one, and battling Michel Nykjaer on the opening lap of race two, dropping behind the Danish driver and going on to finish in 7th place behind Rob Huff

“The turbo diesels they are unbelievebly quick down the straight,” commented Dahlgren.

The team are also in a development race to upgrade to the new 1.6 litre turbocharged WTCC specification engine, but will be the last manufacturer to introduce the engine this year in the team’s development season.

“We just need to work harder. Without the turbo engine we can still learn. We will try and get it as soon as possible but there’s no point in putting it in and it breaks down straight away.”