Volvo Polestar’s Team Cyan Is Racing A Lotus Evora This Season (That’s Right, A Lotus)

Previously racing under the Polestar banner, the team now known as Cyan Racing has a long-standing association with Volvo. But this year it’s entering another kind of car: a Lotus.

Rechristened as Lotus Cyan Racing, the team will field an Evora GT4 in the Swedish GT series. And it’ll even wear the bright blue livery from which the team derives its name. Complete with the Swedish flag on the roof.

At this point, only the most astute observers may see the link. Chinese automaker Geely recently acquired a majority stake in Lotus (along with nearly half of its former parent company Proton). Geely is the same parent company that owns Volvo and Polestar (not to mention Lynk & Co, the London Taxi/EV Company, and a small stake in Daimler).

A Prince Behind The Wheel

To drive the Evora, Cyan has retained the services of Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte and Richard Göransson. The Duke of Värmland is the son of King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. And he’s been competing in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship with Volvo/Polestar/Cyan since 2013. His teammate Richard Göransson, with whom the prince will share the car, won the STCC with the same team in 2016.

“We are headed for the start of a new programme and a new season with great excitement,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, the former Volvo/Polestar motorsport chief, now named head of Geely Group Motorsport (under whose auspices the team will now race). “We are especially glad to continue our relationship with Prince Carl Philip who for this year will drive a new brand within the Geely Group in the form of Lotus. The pre-season tests have been very positive and we are looking forward to the season start.”

Look closely in the pictures and you’ll see another car or two under covers in the background. We’d bet those are the new tin-top racers that Cyan Racing will field in the STCC that runs alongside the GT series. But we’ll have to see what form those will take, since the old S60 is on its way out and the new one hasn’t debuted yet.