Volvo and its performance partner Polestar has secured their first victory in Australia’s competitive V8 Supercars race series after just two rounds of competition. Driving the S60 race car was Scott McLaughlin who won the fourth and final race of V8 Supercars’ second round, which coincided with this past weekend’s 2014 Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

McLaughlin crossed the finishing line first after 12 laps to score Volvo’s first racing victory in Australia since 1999. He finished one second ahead of top contender Craig Lowndes who was in the Holden Commodore of Red Bull Racing.

In the previous round held in the Australian city of Adelaide, McLaughlin managed to finish as high as second.

“A fantastic effort by Scott and everyone in the team,” Polestar boss Christian Dahl said after the race in Melbourne. “This has been an amazing journey so far and it is for sure looking bright for the remainder of the season.”

Unfortunately, the weekend wasn’t so good for McLaughlin’s teammate Robert Dahlgren. After qualifying strong, the Swede dropped positions in all four races held over the weekend to finish 18th at best, with one retirement in the final race due to a damaged rim.

As previously reported, Volvo’s V8 Supercars race car is based on the S60 but underneath is a common ‘control’ chassis shared by all teams. The body work and engine are unique, however, with the latter producing as much as 650 horsepower from its 5.0 liters of displacement. The unit is closely based on the 4.4-liter V-8 that Volvo previously offered in its XC90 SUV.

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