According to reports in Autosport, Volvo came very close to making a return to the British Touring Car Championship, unfortunately for the Swedish manufacturer sponsorship plans failed and the financial side of things couldn’t be worked out.
“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.
“I’m not ruling out the BTCC after 2010. It’s got a huge appeal internationally that the STCC doesn’t have, which is very attractive to us,” said Crabb.
Another twist in this story was that Jason Plato was being lined up as team leader for the team, but with the deal falling through it seems he will return to RML again, despite the team not wanting to reveal anything yet.
“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 currently working on plans to run Chevrolet Cruzes in the BTCC this year, “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.
Photo credit: Volvo
