Marcus Grönholm

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Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm 2014-07-26 001 (cropped).jpg
Marcus Grönholm in 2014
Personal information
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born (1968-02-05) February 5, 1968 (age 53)
Kauniainen, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1989–2007, 2009–2010, 2019
Co-driverFinland Timo Rautiainen
TeamsToyota, Peugeot, Ford
Rallies153
Championships2 (2000, 2002)
Rally wins30
Podiums61
Stage wins542
Total points615
First rally1989 1000 Lakes Rally
First win2000 Swedish Rally
Last win2007 Rally New Zealand
Last rally2019 Rally Sweden
Global RallyCross Championship
Years active–2012
Car number3
Former teamsOlsbergs MSE
Starts8
Wins5
Podiums8
Best finish2nd in
FIA ERX Division 1 Championship
Years active
Former teamsFord Team RS Europe
Starts3
Wins1
Podiums1
Best finish16th in

Marcus Ulf Johan Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship driver. Grönholm's nicknames are either "Bosse" (mainly in his native Finland and the Scandinavian countries) or "Magic Marcus". 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, and in the 2019 World Rally Championship where he competed in a Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT-maintained Toyota Yaris under the GRX Team banner.[1]

Career[]

Early career[]

Grönholm's 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 teammate 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.[2] 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 did not 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 defense in 2001 during which assorted mechanical problems kept him down to fourth overall in the points table, he easily won his second title in 2002.

Grönholm with a Peugeot 307 WRC at the 2004 Monte Carlo Rally.

In 2003 Peugeot stuck with the same lineup as 2002 (Grönholm, Burns, Panizzi and Rovanperä) and also the 206. The only change was that the team now had major sponsorship from cigarette giants Marlboro painting the cars red and white. However the 206 was now four years old and showing its age. Grönholm covered this with three wins in Sweden, New Zealand and Argentina (the latter after an incident with a bank which dropped him to as low as 6th); however fuel pressure issues in Greece and a broken Propshaft in Cyprus meant Grönholm lost valuable points. A second in Germany was followed by accidents in Finland, Australia and Italy and by this stage he had fallen to sixth in the Championship. Fourth in France and sixth in Spain after a wrong tire choice was followed by another crash in Great Britain when he hit a pile of logs on a stage. The police soon caught him and despite his best efforts Grönholm was forbidden to go back to service. He finished sixth with 46 points.

In 2004 Peugeot introduced the new 307 to replace the 206, but the car was plagued by gearbox and power steering woes throughout the season. Grönholm took an immediate dislike to the new car because of its poor reliability, battling gearbox problems in Monte Carlo and power steering issues in Sweden. After more power steering woes in Mexico he stated "I'm fed up with this car". An eventful second in New Zealand was followed by heartbreak in Cyprus: Here Grönholm thought he had taken the 307's first win but after the event both he and teammate Harri Rovanperä (who finished fifth) were disqualified for illegal water pumps. A damaged suspension took him out in Greece, while despite a second in Turkey, co-driver Rautiainen suffered two broken bones in his bottom after they ran over a loose steel rod lying on the stage they were driving on which went through Rautiainen's seat - this incident went viral when after a reporter's question, Grönholm explained that something went through the seat "up in the ass of Timo".[3][4][5] In Finland everything clicked despite a gearbox issue and Grönholm finally got a win he was allowed to keep, but he went from hero to zero by crashing on the first stage in Germany. Spain would be his last podium of the year, coming home second after winning a battle with Carlos Sainz. This meant Grönholm finished a frustrating fifth with 62 points.

For 2005 Peugeot switched from Michelin to Pirelli tires, feeling that they could win on different rubber and to give Pirelli opportunities with other teams as only Subaru used their rubber in 2004. Grönholm also had a new teammate in Markko Märtin as Rovanperä joined Mitsubishi. After a difficult start with crashes in Monaco and Sweden Grönholm finished second in Mexico and New Zealand and was in contention for the win in Italy until a hefty roll down a hill cost him a heap of time and he had to settle for third. Retirement in Cyprus was followed by another third in Turkey where he lost a fight with Solberg for second; however both were comfortably beaten by Loeb who dominated the year with ten wins and Michelin tires that were superior to the Pirelli on the Peugeot. Groholm criticised the 307's speed in Argentina where despite coming second he stated "It's impossible to go faster with this car". He did take two wins in Finland and Japan, both of which creating contrasting emotions. In Finland he won his home rally for the fifth time despite Rautiainen having another bizarre injury when he damaged a vertebra over a jump. The Japan event came just a week after the death of Märtin's co-driver Michael Park after a crash in Great Britain (Grönholm was therefore withdrawn from the event) and Grönholm was set to finish second until rally leader Petter Solberg crashed on the penultimate stage handing Grönholm the win. It would be Grönholm's last with Peugeot as he retired from the last three events of the year in France (gearbox issues) Spain (technical failure) and Australia (damaged suspension) and although he tied with Solberg on 71 points, the Norwegian pipped him to second with more wins (3-2) so Grönholm finished third. At the end of the year Peugeot left the championship and Grönholm needed to find a new team.

2006–2007: Ford[]

Grönholm driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 06 at the 2006 Cyprus Rally.

For the 2006 season, Grönholm switched to the Ford team, driving their all-new 2006-specification Focus RS 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.

Grönholm at the 2006 Telstra Rally Australia.

In the meantime, the hopeful Grönholm collected victories over Loeb in Greece and Finland. Loeb's hopes seemed to be coming to fruition 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. Grönholm 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 Grönholm, though, came in that another victory in New Zealand ahead of teammate Mikko Hirvonen was to confirm the manufacturers' title for his Ford team over Loeb-less Kronos Citroën.

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 teammate.

Grönholm in his last rally at the 2007 Wales Rally GB.

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",[6] also citing the opportunity ahead of him to potentially retire as a three-time World Rally Champion.

Other success[]

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.

Rallycross[]

2008: The 560 bhp Ford Fiesta ST Rallycross cars of Marcus Grönholm and Andréas Eriksson in Stockholm

On April 16, 2008, 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, the Netherlands 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.[7]

In 2011 Grönholm participated in the American Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) in a 560 bhp Best Buy Ford Fiesta Mk7 prepared by the Swedish company Olsbergs MSE. 2012 he continued in the GRC for the same team and car and started the season with two overall victories on two events. A career-ending injury took place during practice for the tjirdround, held at X Games Los Angeles 2012.

Later rally career[]

In August 2008, Grönholm turned down Stobart M-Sport Ford's offer to return to the WRC to replace the injured Gigi Galli.[8] 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.[9] 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 WRC2009. 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."[10] 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.[11]

Grönholm took part in the 2010 Rally Sweden driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 08 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.[12]

Grönholm made a return to the wheel of a Prodrive-run rally car in September 2010 when he test drove the Mini Countryman WRC in Portugal. Grönholm agreed to the test before taking any long-term decisions about his future.[13] He also made a limited appearance in the 2019 World Rally Championship where he drove a Toyota Gazoo Racing-run Yaris under the GRX Team banner in the 2019 Rally Sweden.[1]

Personal life[]

Grönholm lives in Ingå with his wife Teresa and their three children. One of them is Niclas Grönholm, who currently competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. While Grönholm is a native speaker of Swedish, he is fully bilingual with Finnish and had his pace notes in the latter language.

He and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen are brothers-in-law.[14]

Titles[]

Year Title Car
1991  Finnish champion (Group N)  Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1994  Finnish champion (Group A)  Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
1996  Finnish champion (Group A)  Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
1997  Finnish champion (Group A)  Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
1998  Finnish champion (Group A)  Toyota Corolla WRC /
Toyota Celica GT-Four
2000  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.

Racing record[]

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
23 		NC 0
1990 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
Ret 		NC 0
1991 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
13 		NC 0
1992 Finnish Junior Rally Team Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
Ret 		NC 0
Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Ret
1993 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD NZL
10 		65th 1
1994 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
5 		19th 8
1995 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD MON
Ret
Ret 		– 0
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Ret
1996 Marcus Grönholm Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
7 		10th 14
Team Toyota Castrol Finland Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
4
1997 Toyota Castrol Team Sweden Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
8 		12th 5
Team Toyota Castrol Finland Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
Ret
Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
4 		NZL
Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC
Ret
5
1998 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 SWE
5 		KEN 16th 2
Toyota Corolla WRC
Ret
Ret 		NZL
Ret
Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC
7 		GBR
Ret
1999 SEAT Sport SEAT Córdoba WRC
Ret 		15th 5
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evo VI
Ret
Peugeot Esso Peugeot 206 WRC
Ret 		NZL
4
8
5
Ret
2000 Peugeot Esso Peugeot 206 WRC MON
Ret 		SWE
1 		KEN
Ret 		POR
2 		ESP
5
2
Ret 		NZL
1
1
Ret
5
4
1
2 		1st 65
2001 Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC
Ret
Ret
3
Ret
Ret
Ret
Ret
Ret
1 		NZL
5
7
Ret
1
1 		4th 36
2002 Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC
5
1
2
4
1
DSQ 		GRC
2
Ret
1
3
2 		NZL
1
1
Ret 		1st 77
2003 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC MON
13
1
9 		NZL
1
1
Ret
Ret
2
Ret
Ret
Ret
4
6
Ret 		6th 46
2004 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 307 WRC MON
4 		SWE
2
6 		NZL
2 		CYP
DSQ
Ret 		TUR
2 		ARG
Ret 		FIN
1 		GER
Ret
4 		GBR
Ret
7
4
2 		AUS
Ret 		5th 62
2005 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 307 WRC MON
5 		SWE
Ret 		MEX
2 		NZL
2 		ITA
3 		CYP
Ret 		TUR
3
4
2 		FIN
1
3 		GBR
Ret 		JPN
1 		FRA
Ret
Ret 		AUS
Ret 		3rd 71
2006 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON
1 		SWE
1 		MEX
8 		ESP
3 		FRA
2 		ARG
10 		ITA
Ret 		GRC
1 		GER
3 		FIN
1 		JPN
2 		CYP
2 		TUR
1 		AUS
5 		NZL
1 		GBR
1 		2nd 111
2007 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON
3 		SWE
1 		NOR
2 		MEX
2 		POR
4 		ARG
2 		ITA
1 		GRC
1 		2nd 112
Ford Focus RS WRC 07 FIN
1 		GER
4 		NZL
1 		ESP
3 		FRA
2 		JPN
Ret 		IRE
Ret 		GBR
2
2009 Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC2009 IRE NOR CYP POR
Ret 		ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR NC 0
2010 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE
21 		MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN DEU JPN FRA ESP GBR NC 0
2019 GRX Team Toyota Yaris WRC MON SWE
38 		MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS
C 		NC 0

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results[]

Division 1[]

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ERX Points
Ford Team RS Europe Ford Fiesta ST POR FRA HUN AUT NOR SWE
1 		BEL NED
10 		CZE POL
12 		GER 16th 32

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results[]

AWD[]

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 GRC Points
Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta IRW1
1 		IRW2
1 		OLD1 OLD2 PIK1
2 		PIK2
1 		LA1
2 		LA2
3 		2nd 112

Supercar[]

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 GRC Points
2012 Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta CHA
1 		TEX
1 		LA
 NH
 LVS
 LVC
 7th 43

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Evans, David (15 January 2019). "Marcus Gronholm back to WRC for Rally Sweden with a Toyota". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. ^ Hart, Jeremy. "Gronholm, the purring engine". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  3. ^ "Totuus "Up in the Ass of Timo" -videosta!". 9 January 2008.
  4. ^ ""Up in the ass of Timo" kertoo: Näin kivulias onnettomuus sattui".
  5. ^ "Marcus Grönholmille naljaillaan edelleen "Up in the ass of Timo" -videosta – "En tiedä tykkääkö Timppa niin hirveästi"". 8 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Official: Gronholm confirms plans for post-2007". Crash.net. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  7. ^ "Marcus Gronholm wins his debut rallycross event at Holjes in Sweden". RallyBuzz. Retrieved 2008-07-31.[dead link]
  8. ^ "Gronholm turns down WRC comeback". Autosport. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  9. ^ "Gronholm return now unlikely". Autosport. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  10. ^ "Marcus Gronholm to compete on Rally de Portugal 2009 in Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC2009". RallyBuzz. 23 February 2009. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  11. ^ "Gronholm's crash in his own words". wrc.com. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Grönholm to enter Rally Sweden Autosport website 2009-12-11 Retrieved 2009-12-14
  13. ^ "World Rally Championship – News – Gronholm to test for Mini". Wrc.com. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  14. ^ "Marcus & Timo". Mgr.fi. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2008-07-31.

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Richard Burns 		Autosport
International Rally Driver Award
2002 		Succeeded by
Petter Solberg
Preceded by
Sébastien Loeb 		Autosport
International Rally Driver Award
2007 		Succeeded by
Sébastien Loeb
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tommi Mäkinen 		World Rally Champion
2000 		Succeeded by
Richard Burns
Preceded by
Richard Burns 		World Rally Champion
2002 		Succeeded by
Petter Solberg
Preceded by
Harri Rovanperä 		Race of Champions
Champion of Champions
2002 		Succeeded by
Sébastien Loeb
Preceded by
Tom Kristensen
Mattias Ekström 		Race of Champions
Nations' Cup
2006 with:
Heikki Kovalainen 		Succeeded by
Michael Schumacher
Sebastian Vettel
Retrieved from ""