Dahlgren thrilled with Volvo's pace

Dahlgren originally equalled his best starting position of the season by qualifying an impressive sixth, but will now start today's opening race from fifth following Norbert Michelisz's penalty. The Swedish driver also finished yesterday's second free practice session as best of the rest behind the three Chevrolet drivers, having run as high as second early on.

Dahlgren explained that limited testing of Volvo's new 1.6 turbo powerplant had left question marks over its performance prior to the weekend.

"I must say we are overjoyed with the results we have [managed] so far," said the reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Cup champion. "I didn't know what to expect because it's a brand new car, a new engine and I'm new to the track, so there's been a lot of things to learn and get to grips with.

"We have tested for only two days on a proper track, and we have done three days on Volvo's test circuit. Just a few laps here or there. But no, we didn't know if we were going to make it until qualifying because we didn't know about reliability. I think we can improve on this a lot, but this has been extremely promising."

Dahlgren is optimistic that he can carry this improved pace across into both races.

"I'd like to take points in both races and finish top five in one of the races at least," he explained. "A target or a dream - however you look at it - would be to get on the podium. I think here it will be lot to ask, but things have happened in World Touring Cars before. People have crashed or gone off and so on, so things could happen if everything pans out well for us.

"If I see a gap I will go for it. We don't have a world championship title to think about or anything. We're in there for the races, and it will be nice to be up [at the front]."