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From wrc.com

Marcus Gronholm makes WRC comeback

Double World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm has decided to come out of retirement to contest April?s Rally Portugal in a Subaru Impreza WRC.

The Finn, 41, will drive a latest specification Impreza run by Prodrive, with backing from Rally Portugal and its sponsor Vodafone. He will be co-driven by his navigator since 1995, Timo Rautiainen.

The appearance - which for now is being billed as a one-off - will be Gronholm?s first entry in a WRC rally since his retirement after Wales Rally GB in 2007.

?I made the decision a few days ago,? Gronholm told wrc.com. ?It?s okay to come back again. Everybody is looking at me, and maybe I?m stupid, but to have fun and drive again, why not??

Gronholm, who has won 30 WRC rallies, has taken part in the last two editions of Rally Portugal, driving a Ford Focus WRC on both occasions: in 2007 as a Ford factory team driver - when he finished fourth - and in 2008 driving the event safety car.

The Finn is quite clear about his expectations: ?I will not start aiming for the win, as I want to compare my speed with the regular WRC boys over the first few stages. The important thing is to feel confidence and pleasure, coming back to an event that I enjoy very much and know the stages quite well.?

Gronholm wanted to spend more time in the car before making any results predictions. ?We have to test the car first, we have to do changes, and find the right feeling and then I can say more,? he said. ?I drove the car a little bit last weekend in Norway and we have another test planned in March, but for the moment I don?t really know where we are. But I hope we can do some little bit good times - that?s the aim.?

Prodrive director Richard Taylor revealed that discussion with Gronholm had been going on for many months. ?It?s no secret that we were talking with Marcus at the end of last year,? said Taylor. ?He had some interest in coming back so we kept the discussions going and we?ve reached an agreement to go to Portugal. It?s a one-off at this time but we?ll see if he likes it.?

Gronholm?s car will be an evolution of the 2008 model used by Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson on Wales Rally GB and will be fitted with Ohlins dampers. ?We have to allow for the fact that we?re not able to homologate the 2009 car fully, but we?ll put together the best spec of car that we possibly can,? added Taylor.
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:banana: I really hope that he eventually decides to stay for a couple more rallies, especially for Rally Finland (obviously:p)
 
Subaru and Gronholm back for a rally? Hell yes! This will be an interesting rally.
 
Top top top top top top top news!!!

Finn is Finn!
 
yes Marcus ! haha what an awesome news! Its just like the good old wrc times!
 
I'm sure this has been posted before but.... In all probability the greatest interview in WRC history.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqQhQSbe6fw[/YOUTUBE]
 
I wouldn't want to bet against a score of 120 out of 120 for Loeb this season. Anyone agree? It seems as if this man is completely unstoppable, rain, shine, snow, tarmac, gravel or whatever.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
I wouldn't want to bet against a score of 120 out of 120 for Loeb this season. Anyone agree? It seems as if this man is completely unstoppable, rain, shine, snow, tarmac, gravel or whatever.
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I think he'll have a DNF or two. Or at least finish somewhere in the back. He has some races like that every year, whereas Hirvonen scored points in every single round last year.
 
Rally Cyprus

Rally Cyprus

I rejoined the ranks of WRC watchers this weekend by stumbling upon the (very, erm, brief) Eurosport coverage on Friday night.

It looks like Loeb could be stopped today by Hirvonen, if starting first is big enough a disadvantage for him. But to be realistic, I think Loeb will carry home another win.
Ogier was hilarious yesterday, what was that, three spins and one roll within 500m? That was, at least, the impression I got from what I saw on TV - but who knows how that was cut together. These "official" WRC coverages are really annoyingly short. Watching that feels like reading an abstract instead of the whole article.

On another note, go Solberg! I'm glad he's up there in the top 5 and with a chance to get a podium finish.
 
Welcome DanRoM. Not the ideal year to start watching rallying but it's a great sport, hope you enjoy it :)

As for Loeb's dominance, I doubt he will win all rallies this year. Mikko has shown that he can match Seb's pace on gravel, he beat Seb fair and square a few times last year and was faster yesterday and today. This weekend he lost way too much time on the tarmac stages on Friday, though.

On Solberg it's indeed fantastic to see him back on top (he's just taken third from Sordo on the penultimate stage), it'll be interesting to see how he'll do in Portugal when the whole rally is on gravel.
 
Hazardous said:
Welcome DanRoM. Not the ideal year to start watching rallying but it's a great sport, hope you enjoy it :)
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DanRoM said:
I rejoined the ranks of WRC watchers this weekend by stumbling upon the (very, erm, brief) Eurosport coverage on Friday night.
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I think you wrote that wrong or didn't read it properly :|

Too bad Solberg could only put one good season in for Subaru. This just shows he could do much better.
 
@ Hazardous: Thanks for the welcome. :)

I've been following WRC since the sometime in the 1990s, I just lost interest in the past few years due to the sport becoming... well, less adventurous, more boring. Less and shorter stages, repeating of stages, and so on. You have probably had some discussions about that here, so I won't rant on. ;) In addition to that, the Eurosport coverage got worse and worse... as I understand it, they just buy the official WRC footage which, unsurprisingly, doesn't show much of interest. Too bad I can't get decent coverage on German TV anywhere.
 
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