- Marcus Grönholm
-
Marcus Grönholm
Grönholm at the 2006 Rally Argentina press conference.Personal information Nationality Finnish
Born February 5, 1968 World Rally Championship record Active years 1989 – 2007, 2009, 2010 Teams Toyota, Peugeot, Ford Rallies 150 Championships 2 (2000, 2002) Rally wins 30 Podiums 60 Stage wins 540 Total points 615 First rally 1989 1000 Lakes Rally First win 2000 Swedish Rally Last win 2007 Rally New Zealand Last rally 2010 Swedish Rally Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm (born February 5, 1968 in Kauniainen/Grankulla) is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the title to Sébastien Loeb by one point. The next year he again placed second, four points behind Loeb. He and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen retired from rallying after the 2007 season but returned to the championship in 2009 driving a private Subaru for a short period of time.
Grönholm also won the 2002 Race of Champions, taking home the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and earning the title "Champion of Champions". At the 2006 Race of Champions, he formed team Finland with Heikki Kovalainen and the pair won the Nations' Cup.
Contents
Career
Early career
Marcus' father, Ulf "Uffe" Grönholm, had been an active rally driver in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and with measurable success too, winding up twice Finnish champion. He was killed during a practice run for Hankiralli on February 25, 1981 in Kirkkonummi. Despite this connection, his son, only 13 years old at the time of his father's death, was latterly to refute any suggestion that it was Ulf, and not fellow rally-driving cousin (and occasional Peugeot factory squad team-mate at various points during the early 2000s), Sebastian Lindholm, who tempted him into following in his father's footsteps by also participating in the sport.[1] In his teens Grönholm was fond of motocross as a recreational activity, but a serious knee injury forced a switch to boxing.
Grönholm featured in various bit-part roles in the world series throughout the 1990s, most notably with Toyota with whom he drove Celicas and Corolla WRCs. Much considered as a late-bloomer he didn't become a 'factory driver' until his early 30s. A staggering string of fastest stage times one year as a privateer, on the final day of the Rally Finland, subsequently brought him to the attention of such factory teams as Ford, Toyota and Peugeot, who all presented him with offers for further employment. It was only when he joined the latter marque, championship newcomers for 1999, that he began to enjoy such meteoric success.
1999-2005: Peugeot
Grönholm driving a Peugeot 206 WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland.After suffering an engine failure on the season-opening round in Monte Carlo in 2000, he took his first championship win on the Swedish Rally the following month, with the 206 WRC. Consequent wins, including on his home round of the series, were sufficient to see off closest points challenger, Subaru's Richard Burns and land a shock first title after finishing second to the Englishman in the Rally of Great Britain. After an irksome and unsuccessful championship defence in 2001 during which assorted mechanical problems kept him down to 4th overall in the points table, he easily won his second title in 2002, at times displaying Michael Schumacher-esque dominance of the sport.
Grönholm with a Peugeot 307 WRC at the 2004 Monte Carlo Rally.Grönholm initially seemed to be carrying on from where he left off in the opening rounds of 2003: He led the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, threatening to score a shock win over the armada of Citroens until his Peugeot team's customary misfortune struck, as well as securing astounding early-season victories in New Zealand and Argentina - the latter a stirring comeback drive from sixth to deny a time-penalised Carlos Sainz. But he failed to cobble together a sufficiently consistent points-scoring run to truly have a hope in retaining his title. With the subsequent introduction of the bulkier Peugeot 307 WRC by the team's parent marque for 2004, he was to score only three more rally wins over the following two seasons. Two of those came in Finland; the remainder, an emotional inherited victory in Japan after the retirement of long-time leader Petter Solberg's Subaru, to follow on from the tragic Wales Rally GB just a week beforehand, where the sport had witnessed Peugeot team-mate Markko Märtin's navigator Michael Park's death in a crash. With the PSA Group representative teams jointly withdrawing from the championship for 2006, Grönholm was left to search for employment elsewhere.
2006-2007: Ford
Grönholm driving a Ford Focus WRC at the 2006 Cyprus Rally.For the 2006 season, Grönholm switched to the Ford team, driving their all-new 2006-specification Focus WRC. On his debut, in January, he won his first ever tarmac rally in Monte Carlo, beating Sébastien Loeb by over a minute, albeit beaten by the Frenchman on the road with the championship's unliked 'Superally' regulations coming to his rescue as a shunt for the Citroën hastened its exit from Leg One. Although he was to follow this up with an entirely credible win in the second event of the season, Sweden, subsequent events saw Loeb surge past into a comfortable lead: the Frenchman was to never finish below second place in every event he entered, while his adversary was left to rue a string of retirements and errors that stymied his challenge.
In the meantime, the hopeful Finn collected victories over Loeb in Greece and Finland. Loeb's hopes seemed to be coming to fruituition when yet another victory in Cyprus brought him to the brink of the title; however he was to suffer his own blow days later when injury from a biking accident forced him out of the last four rounds of the series. Marcus was able to push within one point of the lead in the total standings as Loeb recovered, but his claim to the title was finally extinguished when he rolled out of contention on the first leg of the penultimate event in Australia. Some solace for Gronholm, though, came in that another victory in New Zealand ahead of team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was to confirm the manufacturers' title for his Ford team over Loeb-less Kronos Citroen.
Marcus Grönholm at the "Circus Maximus" SSS of 2007 Rallye Deutschland.The 2007 season started in good fashion for Grönholm. He claimed third place in the 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo behind the dominant returning works Citroens, and then the top spot in the Swedish Rally, mirroring the previous year's result. While the usually consummate Loeb tumbled out of the points from a potentially auspicious position in both Norway and Sardinia, Grönholm remained consistent and after winning for the 28th time in his career over the Citroen titan in Greece, led the championship by nine points over Loeb over the championship's summer break. At the 2007 Rally Finland, Ford secured a one-two with Grönholm taking the win and Hirvonen the second place ahead of Loeb. At the next rally, the 2007 Rallye Deutschland, Grönholm got distracted by a cow along the road and made a driving error while trying to secure a second place ahead of hard-charging François Duval, dropping him to fourth place behind his team-mate.
Then came New Zealand, where after a tight battle over all three legs, Grönholm took a victory of historic slenderness over Loeb. The final winning margin between the two represented the closest ever in the history of the World Rally Championship: 0.3 seconds. This victory put him ten points clear in the championship with five rounds remaining. Podium finishes in Spain and France kept him on track for the championship, but after crashing out early at both Japan and Ireland the championship lead switched back to Loeb. Second place at Wales Rally GB was not enough to dislodge Loeb and so Grönholm finished the season as runner-up.
On 14 September 2007, Grönholm announced long-rumoured plans to retire from rallying at the end of the 2007 season, stating that "I wanted to stop while I still had the speed to win rallies. I didn't want to leave the decision too late so that I wasn't capable of winning any longer",[2] also citing the opportunity ahead of him to potentially retire as a three-time World Rally Champion.
Later career
On April 16 Marcus Grönholm, at a press conference in the Kungsträdgården of Stockholm, announced a limited programme to take part in at least five rounds of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers (ERC). Grönholm participated in the series as team member of Andréas Eriksson's Ford Team RS Europe and, like the 2003 Swedish rally champion, drove a brand new 4WD Ford Fiesta ST European Rallycross Car (ERC) with 560 bhp (420 kW) and 800+ Nm torque that goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.2 seconds, faster than any current Formula One car. The programme was later reduced to three 2008 ERC rounds (Sweden, Holland and Poland). Grönholm qualified on pole and went on to take the win in his ERC debut at Höljes in Sweden on July 6 in front of 23,400 spectators.[3]
In August 2008, Grönholm turned down Stobart M-Sport Ford's offer to return to the WRC to replace the injured Gigi Galli.[4] It was later reported that the factory teams of Citroën and Subaru both wanted to sign him for the 2009 season. In December, Grönholm and Subaru were reportedly close to signing to a full 12-event program, when the team re-structured the potential deal for financial reasons to include only four events, which did not interest Grönholm.[5] Soon after, Subaru announced its shock withdrawal from the series due to the economic downturn.
Grönholm came out of retirement to contest the 2009 Rally Portugal in a Prodrive-prepared Subaru Impreza WRC2008. He stated that he was not aiming for the win and that "it will be fun to return [to the WRC], even in an ad-hoc way, in a car that I don’t know at all and after a year where I competed in some rallycross events."[6] Despite this Grönholm performed well and stayed in touch with the leaders; he was in 4th position when he crashed on Saturday’s opening stage, damaging the car's engine and ending his rally.[7]
Grönholm took part in the 2010 Rally Sweden driving a Ford Focus RS WRC for Team Therminator, alongside countryman Matthias Therman. Grönholm was co-driven, as usual, by Timo Rautiainen. He finished the rally - the first round of the 2010 WRC season in 21st place after technical problems on stage 6 costing him 13 minutes making him drop down to 33rd then making all the way up again until he got to 24th place but then dropped again to 30th place because of a puncture costing him another 7 minutes.[8]
Grönholm will make a return to the wheel of a Prodrive-run rally car in September 2010 when he test drives the new Mini Countryman WRC in Portugal. Grönholm has agreed to the test before taking any long-term decisions about his future.[9]
Personal life
Grönholm lives in Ingå with his wife Teresa and their three children. He and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen are brothers-in-law.[10]
He is a member of Mensa Finland.[11]
Titles
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Year Title Car 1991 Finnish champion (Group N) Toyota Celica GT-Four 1994 Finnish champion (Group A) Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD 1996 Finnish champion (Group A) Toyota Celica GT-Four 1997 Finnish champion (Group A) Toyota Celica GT-Four 1998 Finnish champion (Group A) Toyota Corolla WRC /
Toyota Celica GT-Four2000 World Rally Champion Peugeot 206 WRC 2002 World Rally Champion Peugeot 206 WRC 2002 Champion of Champions Varies
WRC wins
Grönholm at the famous Bunnings Jumps during the 2006 Rally Australia.-
# Event Season Co-driver Car 1 49th International Swedish Rally
2000 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 2 30th Rally New Zealand
2000 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 3 50th Neste Rally Finland
2000 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 4 13th Telstra Rally Australia
2000 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 5 51st Neste Rally Finland
2001 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 6 14th Telstra Rally Australia
2001 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 7 57th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
2001 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 8 51st Uddeholm Swedish Rally
2002 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 9 30th Cyprus Rally
2002 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 10 52nd Neste Rally Finland
2002 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 11 32nd Propecia Rally New Zealand
2002 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 12 15th Telstra Rally Australia
2002 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 13 52nd Uddeholm Swedish Rally
2003 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 14 33rd Propecia Rally New Zealand
2003 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 15 23º Rally Argentina
2003 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC 16 54th Neste Rally Finland
2004 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC 17 55th Neste Rally Finland
2005 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC 18 2nd Rally Japan
2005 Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC 19 74ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 20 55th Uddeholm Swedish Rally
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 21 53rd Acropolis Rally
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 22 56th Neste Oil Rally Finland
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 23 7th Rally of Turkey
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 24 36th Propecia Rally New Zealand
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 25 62nd Wales Rally GB
2006 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 26 56th Uddeholm Swedish Rally
2007 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 27 4º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia
2007 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 28 54th BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece
2007 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 29 57th Neste Oil Rally Finland
2007 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 07 30 37th Propecia Rally New Zealand
2007 Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 07
Complete WRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 1989 Marcus Grönholm Lancia Delta Integrale SWE MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
23AUS ITA CIV GBR - 0 1990 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica GT-Four MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
RetAUS ITA CIV GBR - 0 1991 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
13AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR - 0 1992 Finnish Junior Rally Team Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE
RetPOR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG - 0 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD FIN
RetAUS ITA CIV ESP GBR 1993 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC ARG NZL FIN
10AUS ITA ESP GBR 65th 1 1994 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD MON POR KEN FRA GRC ARG NZL FIN
5ITA GBR 19th 8 1995 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD MON SWE
RetFRA NZL
RetAUS ESP GBR - 0 H.F. Grifone Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD POR
Ret1996 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD SWE
7KEN IDN GRC ARG 10th 14 Team Toyota Castrol Finland Toyota Celica GT-Four FIN
4AUS ITA ESP 1997 Toyota Castrol Team Sweden Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE
8KEN 12th 5 Team Toyota Castrol Finland Toyota Celica GT-Four POR
RetESP FRA H.F. Grifone Toyota Celica GT-Four ARG
4GRC NZL Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC FIN
RetIDN ITA AUS GBR
51998 H.F. Grifone Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE
5KEN 16th 2 Toyota Corolla WRC POR
RetESP
RetFRA ARG GRC NZL
RetToyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC FIN
7ITA AUS GBR
Ret1999 SEAT Sport SEAT Córdoba WRC MON SWE
RetKEN 15th 5 Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evo VI POR
RetESP FRA ARG Peugeot Esso Peugeot 206 WRC GRC
RetNZL FIN
4CHN ITA
8AUS
5GBR
Ret2000 Peugeot Esso Peugeot 206 WRC MON
RetSWE
1KEN
RetPOR
2ESP
5ARG
2GRC
RetNZL
1FIN
1CYP
RetFRA
5ITA
4AUS
1GBR
21st 65 2001 Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC MON
RetSWE
RetPOR
3ESP
RetARG
RetCYP
RetGRC
RetKEN
RetFIN
1NZL
5ITA
7FRA
RetAUS
1GBR
14th 36 2002 Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC MON
5SWE
1FRA
2ESP
4CYP
1ARG
DSQGRC
2KEN
RetFIN
1GER
3ITA
2NZL
1AUS
1GBR
Ret1st 77 2003 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC MON
13SWE
1TUR
9NZL
1ARG
1GRC
RetCYP
RetGER
2FIN
RetAUS
RetITA
RetFRA
4ESP
6GBR
Ret6th 46 2004 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 307 WRC MON
4SWE
2MEX
6NZL
2CYP
DSQGRC
RetTUR
2ARG
RetFIN
1GER
RetJPN
4GBR
RetITA
7FRA
4ESP
2AUS
Ret5th 62 2005 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 307 WRC MON
5SWE
RetMEX
2NZL
2ITA
3CYP
RetTUR
3GRC
4ARG
2FIN
1GER
3GBR
RetJPN
1FRA
RetESP
RetAUS
Ret3rd 71 2006 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON
1SWE
1MEX
8ESP
3FRA
2ARG
10ITA
RetGRC
1GER
3FIN
1JPN
2CYP
2TUR
1AUS
5NZL
1GBR
12nd 111 2007 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON
3SWE
1NOR
2MEX
2POR
4ARG
2ITA
1GRC
12nd 112 Ford Focus RS WRC 07 FIN
1GER
4NZL
1ESP
3FRA
2JPN
RetIRE
RetGBR
22009 Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC2008 IRE NOR CYP POR
RetARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR NC 0 2010 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE
21MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN DEU JPN FRA ESP GBR - 0 References
- ^ Hart, Jeremy. "Gronholm, the purring engine". Scotland on Sunday. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=131542003. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
- ^ "Official: Gronholm confirms plans for post-2007". Crash.net. http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?cid=4&id=154402. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
- ^ "Marcus Gronholm wins his debut rallycross event at Holjes in Sweden". RallyBuzz. http://rallybuzz.stagetimes.com/gronholm-wins-first-rx-holjes-fiesta/. Retrieved 2008-07-31.[dead link]
- ^ "Gronholm turns down WRC comeback". Autosport. 19 August 2008. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69883. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
- ^ "Gronholm return now unlikely". Autosport. 15 December 2008. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72483. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
- ^ "Marcus Gronholm to compete on Rally de Portugal 2009 in Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC2008". RallyBuzz. 23 February 2009. http://www.rallybuzz.com/gronholm-subaru-portugal/. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
- ^ "Gronholm’s crash in his own words". wrc.com. 2009-04-06. http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=4437&desc=Gronholm%E2%80%99s%20crash%20in%20his%20own%20words. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ Grönholm to enter Rally Sweden Autosport website 2009-12-11 Retrieved 2009-12-14
- ^ "World Rally Championship - News - Gronholm to test for Mini". Wrc.com. http://www.wrc.com/news/gronholm-to-test-for-mini/?fid=13566. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ^ "Marcus & Timo". Mgr.fi. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20080424083831/http://www.mgr.fi/marcus-uk.php. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ "Nämä julkkikset kuuluvat Suomen Mensaan" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. http://www.iltasanomat.fi/viihde/uutinen.asp?id=1563705. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
External links
- Official website
- Ford Media - Things you didn't know about...
- Rallybase stats page
- WRC Archive stats page
Awards and achievements Preceded by
Richard BurnsAutosport
International Rally Driver Award
2002Succeeded by
Petter SolbergPreceded by
Sébastien LoebAutosport
International Rally Driver Award
2007Succeeded by
Sébastien LoebSporting positions Preceded by
Harri RovanperäRace of Champions
Champion of Champions
2002Succeeded by
Sébastien LoebPreceded by
Tom Kristensen
Mattias EkströmRace of Champions
Nations' Cup
2006 with:
Heikki KovalainenSucceeded by
Michael Schumacher
Sebastian Vettel2010 World Rally Championship season Teams Citroën Ford Stobart Ford Citroën Junior Munchi's Ford PSWRT Citroën Monster Ford Adapta Subaru 5 Wilson
6 H. Solberg
- Grönholm
- Therman9 Villagra
11 P. Solberg
- Block
- Østberg
Rallies Sweden · Mexico · Jordan · Turkey · New Zealand · Portugal · Bulgaria · Finland · Germany · Japan · France · Spain · Great Britain World Rally Champions 1977: Sandro Munari (FIA Cup) · 1978: Markku Alén (FIA Cup) · 1979: Björn Waldegård · 1980: Walter Röhrl · 1981: Ari Vatanen · 1982: Walter Röhrl · 1983: Hannu Mikkola · 1984: Stig Blomqvist · 1985: Timo Salonen · 1986–1987: Juha Kankkunen · 1988–1989: Miki Biasion · 1990: Carlos Sainz · 1991: Juha Kankkunen · 1992: Carlos Sainz · 1993: Juha Kankkunen · 1994: Didier Auriol · 1995: Colin McRae · 1996–1997–1998–1999: Tommi Mäkinen · 2000: Marcus Grönholm · 2001: Richard Burns · 2002: Marcus Grönholm · 2003: Petter Solberg · 2004–2005–2006–2007–2008–2009–2010–2011: Sébastien Loeb
Winners of Autosport's International Rally Driver Award 1982: Michèle Mouton • 1983: Stig Blomqvist • 1984: Ari Vatanen • 1985: Timo Salonen • 1986–87: Juha Kankkunen • 1988: Markku Alén • 1989: Miki Biasion • 1990–91: Carlos Sainz • 1992: Didier Auriol • 1993: Juha Kankkunen • 1994–95: Colin McRae • 1996: Tommi Mäkinen • 1997: Tommi Mäkinen & Colin McRae • 1998–99: Tommi Mäkinen • 2000–01: Richard Burns • 2002: Marcus Grönholm • 2003: Petter Solberg • 2004–06: Sébastien Loeb • 2007: Marcus Grönholm • 2008: Sébastien Loeb • 2009: Mikko Hirvonen • 2010: Sébastien LoebCategories:- 1968 births
- Living people
- Swedish-speaking Finns
- Finnish rally drivers
- World Rally Champions
- World Rally Championship people
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