But not so with Volvo. In understated style typical of the Swedes, Volvo took a lap record with the S60 Polestar and then didn’t tell anyone about it. For an entire year.

We all know what happens at the Nurburgring. A manufacturer borrows the old North Loop circuit for a day or two, smashes out a record-breaking lap time and throws out a florid press release about it.

After finishing the 2016 Nurburgring round of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the Polestar Cyan Racing team elected to stay in Germany for a few extra days. It conducted a secret test of its road and race cars, essentially for no better reason than to see how fast they could go on the demanding Nordschleife.

Unexpectedly, the team recorded a 7’51.110 time for the S60 Polestar, beating the fastest time set by a road legal, production four-door car at the time.

So why did it keep quiet? Volvo says that the test revealed important information that it then incorporated into both its racing cars and the Polestar road cars. It’s only safe to let the secret out now, as the WTCC returns to the ‘Ring for 2017.