McLaughlin to debut new Volvo at Barbagallo

Volvo Polestar Racing owner Garry Rogers has confirmed that Scott McLaughlin will debut the team’s new chassis at Barbagallo Raceway next month.

The car, codenamed GRM 018, underwent a trouble free shakedown at Winton on Monday with the 21-year-old at the wheel.

It is McLaughlin’s third new car since joining the team at the start of 2013.

“We were open-minded about when it would debut but the shakedown went well so we’ve decided to run it at Barbagallo,” Rogers told Speedcafe.com.

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“There’s not a lot on it that’s different (to the previous car) because of how restrictive the rules are but there’s a little bit, mainly for driver comfort.

“We did some work on our package over Christmas and made some gains there, so this is just an extension of what we’ve currently got.

“Drivers have a thing about new cars anyway. They (the drivers) are all the same. If it’s new, it’s better.”

GRM now has three complete Volvo V8 Supercars in its stable, while its Melbourne workshop continues to house the two Car of the Future-spec Holdens it sold to Dragon Motor Racing last year.

Rogers added that the team’s Swedish-based engine supplier Polestar will send new engines in time for Barbagallo following work to fix recent reliability issues.