Make no mistake: this is a clear marketing initiative on the part of Volvo Trucks, but there is certainly some entertainment value in watching the firm’s monstrous Iron Knight racing truck take on a WTCC race car.
While Volvo Trucks and Volvo Cars are actually two separate companies now, there is clearly a friendly relationship between the two and both are keen to show off their racing machines in a quarter mile drag race and track dual around the Mantorp circuit in Sweden.
In the one corner we have the world’s fastest truck – the Iron Knight is powered by a 12.8-litre, six-cylinder quad-turbodiesel engine, which produces a whopping 1790kW and 6000Nm. The 4.5-tonne beast recently set new speed records by sprinting 500 metres in 13.71 seconds and a kilometre in just 21.29.
In the other corner, and with the obvious agility advantage, is Volvo’s S60 Polestar TC1, powered by a heavily-modified 1.6-litre Drive E turbopetrol engine, good for 298kW.
Let the duel begin!