Ekblom to return to Volvo Polestar WTCC line-up in China

Ekblom started the season alongside Thed Bjork in the team's second Volvo S60 Polestar, scoring a best result of fourth in Hungary.

However he was replaced for the seventh round of the campaign in Portugal by Robert Dahlgren, one of three drivers alongside Bjork and Ekblom who had been in contention for the marque's two seats ahead of its WTCC return for 2016.

Dahlgren then stepped back himself after the round in Argentina to focus on his Scandinavian Touring Car Championship title assault, with Polestar handing Nestor Girolami a drive in Japan as part of its evaluation process for the 2017 campaign.

Girolami finished ninth and fifth at Motegi, having set the pace in practice, but the team admitted afterwards that it would wait to make a decision on its driver line-up for the final two rounds.

Polestar has now brought Ekblom back into the fold for the visit to China, although his deal currently only stands for the pair of races at the Shanghai International circuit.

"Fredrik's extensive experience is vital to the progress of our programme, both in terms of testing and racing," said Polestar's head of motorsport Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin.

"It is also vital for us to be able to continue to run different drivers in preparation for next season when our goal is to fight for victories, compare to this year that is only about gathering data."