V8 Supercars: Let the V8 battles begin...

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin (above, below) says the Volvo team is keen to be up and running. Main Picture / Edge Photographics

Kiwi driver backing Volvo to make its Supercar mark

This year's V8 Supercars series will have several battles-within-a-battles. There'll be the competition among the drivers, and the longstanding Ford versus Holden stoush will continue its 50-plus years of combativeness. Then you have the new kids on the block racing for supremacy.

Nissan and Mercedes-AMG are being joined on the grid this year by Volvo, and those three will be fighting it out to see who can finish the highest on the points table.

Nissan already has a race win, Mercedes-AMG has been there or there about, and Volvo has a pedigree in Aussie V8 racing, so it should make for interesting times.

Nissan and Mercedes-AMG have an advantage over Volvo in that they've had a season to iron out the kinks in their cars, and have made upgrades and improvements.

The two Volvos of Kiwi Scott McLaughlin and Swede Robert Dahlgren have only 200 laps between them.

But Volvo has a great pedigree in touring car racing and will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

At the recent hit out at the Sydney Motorsport Park McLaughlin and Dahlgren were floating around mid pack in changeable conditions that made tyre choice the major influencer.

Gary Rogers has been in the V8 game a long time, and he and his crew have been quietly beavering away for the past 10 months, so they are likely to make an impression this weekend in Adelaide at the start of this year's V8 Supercars championship.

"I'm pretty excited about the new cars and how everything is coming together," said McLaughlin. "It's seriously bloody cool and something to be proud of being part of.

"I got about 100 laps under my belt at Sydney and we're pretty happy with how it went.

"Fundamentally there's not a big difference between the Volvo and my old car and I don't have to change my driving style.

"It sounds different [flatplane crank, narrower bank angle and alternate bore and stroke dimensions] and the engine power is pretty good and the driveability is okay as well.

"Phase one with all the build and getting the car ready to go racing has been done and now we move into phase two where we do more race development and turn it into a winning car."

McLaughlin knows about winning having got that small monkey off his back last year and has nothing to prove in that area.

Being able to best the best drivers in the category as part of a small team put paid to any idea that the New Zealander was a fast rookie who might not be able to deliver at the high end.

Moving to a new manufacturer could be the best thing for the 20-year-old as he now has an opportunity to develop a few more skills.

"At the end of the day Volvo isn't here to muck around," said McLaughlin. "They want to be up and running straight away, and I love that in the team. I don't have to prove to anyone that I can win races and showed I can drive a car fast.

"I've always been able to give good feedback to the engineers, and that's half the reason I signed with Volvo. I want to show there's more to what I offer the team than just being quick.

"No matter what happens this year, no one can say I'm useless. Sure, I want to win more races this year but it's also about being able to contribute in other ways so I also learn more. It's a good position for me to be in and I was really grateful for what I had last year and it's given me more motivation to go out there this year and be better."

His teammate and former Scandinavian Touring Car championship driver Dahlgren will start the Clipsal 500 as one of the least experienced V8 Supercars rookies in the history of the sport.

Said McLaughlin: "I think he's a bit surprised how big it is and it's a bit different to what he's used to. The challenge will be a bit hard for him but I'm here to help him out as much as I can."