GRONHOLM TO RALLY SWEDEN IN YARIS WRC
Marcus Gronholm’s World Rally Championship return in Sweden next month is a delayed 50th birthday present to himself.
The two-time world champion will drive a Toyota Yaris WRC on the Torsby-based event, but he’s already emphasising the outing is all about enjoying himself rather than pushing for a record-breaking sixth win on his favourite round of the series.
Gronholm and Swedish legend Stig Blomqvist are the most successful drivers on Sweden’s round of the WRC with five wins.
As revealed by MN in September, Gronholm came close to competing in Sweden 12 months ago, only to miss out due to a lack of car availability.
Next month he will compete with his brother-in-law and the man who navigated him to both world titles in 2000 and 2002, Timo Rautiainen. Rautiainen now works as the FIA’S vice-president of the WRC Commission, but he will be used to the co-driver’s seat again after contesting the Arctic Rally with Valtteri Bottas in a Ford Fiesta WRC.
Gronholm will compete in a privately entered Yaris which will be serviced alongside – but not part of – the three factory Toyota Gazoo Racing cars.
“This is about me enjoying my birthday present on the great roads of Rally Sweden,” said Gronholm, who turns 51 the week before his WRC return. “I have many unforgettable memories from the event and I scored my very first WRC win there in 2000. So, now I’ll be doing the rally one more time.
“I’m kind of over-aged as a rally driver, so I’ll be driving accordingly. But, my starting place will be good behind the others, so I guess we could still come up with something…”
Gronholm was quick to thank TGR team principal Tommi Makinen for his part in the deal, saying: “Driving a rally with Toyota is, of course, a big deal. I owe a huge thank you to Tommi Makinen, who agreed to go along with my idea.”
Makinen told MN last year he is looking forward to seeing what his countryman can do in Sweden.
“He could be very fast, especially in somewhere like Sweden which was one of the rallies he loves,” said Makinen. “With some testing, he could be good and it would be brilliant to see him back on that rally after he won it so many times.”
Gronholm is no stranger to the Yaris after he drove a factory car for demonstration purposes on the Harju street stage at Rally Finland in 2017. Despite driving the stage with no notes (he was co-driven by prize winners), Gronholm’s time for the second test was just a fraction slower than the quickest competitive time.