Gronholm Testing Mini Cooper WRC

Will Marcus Gronholm make his comeback through the Mini Cooper WRC Career?

The Finnish 2-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm acknowledged his return to the WRC calendar; the Finland’s racing idol will make a return onboard of a Prodrive-tuned rally car for the 1st time in over a year. Marcus Gronholm will have to forget about driving a Peugeot WRC or Ford WRC car as he tests the new Mini Countryman WRC in Portugal rally next week, part of the 2010 WRC Calendar.

Mini WRC car has marked the biggest surprise in the racing world lately! The muc awaited rally car had undergone a basic shakedown test in Warwick (the base of the British firm’s proving ground) but the whole motorsport squad is determined to await the Mini SWRC car during the WRC Portugal rally as it gets carried out on a gravel surface.

After meeting with the Prodrive officials, the 42 years old Gronholm approved on driving the Mini Cooper WRC car for initial testing purposess before signing a long-term contract with the English-German manufacturer.

Note that Gronholm had declared his retreat from motorsport back in 2007 after winning 2 WRC Titles with Peugeot and ranking behind Loeb’s Citroen WRC in 2 consecutive seasons with Ford. Gronholm was always confused about going back to the sport, given that he was the only serious contender in the face of Sebastien Loeb; the WRC 2009 marked a swift comeback for the Fin who drrove a Subaru Impreza WRC Prodrive during the Rally of Portugal… as he was about to declare his deal with Subaru World Rally Team, that latter Japanese manufacturer pulled out of WRC at the end of 2008 due to the econmic crisis.

In order to stay within the WRC rally mood, Gronholm cruised along the WRC Sweden Stages this year; the Finnish driver was able to set some great times before being pushed back in the WRC rankings in Sweden due to electrical problem that slowed down the racing car.

Officials at the Mini SWRC team told that Mini Cooper WRC Career is less likely to be in a full programme during WRC 2011; the news marked a major smile onto Gronholm’s face who was looking to drive in the WRC but for a full WRC Calendar.

From WRC S2000 WRCS2000.com