 Oficiálně: Dvojnásobný mistr světa v rallye Marcus Grönholm září, ale končí !!
15.9.2007 16:56 - Pavel Jelínek
Dvojnásobný mistr světa v rallye Marcus Grönholm oficiálně oznámil, přestože mu letošní sezóna vychází výborně a je na dobré cestě za titulem, že letos v prosinci ukončí kariéru.
Devětatřicetiletý Fin by dokonce letos mohl vyrvat titul Loebovi a mohl by se tedy loučit jako šampion !! Do konce šampionátu zbývá posledních pět soutěží a Marcus vede o deset bodů před obhájcem titulu Sébastienem Loebem z Francie.
Grönholm se v MS pohybuje už téměř dvacet let - od roku 1989.
"Přes dvacet let v rallye mi toho spoustu dalo a vždycky jsem snil o tom ukončit kariéru na vrcholu. Teď mám jedinečnou šanci, aby se to stalo, a hodlám ji využít," řekl mimo jiné.
Celkově vyhrál třicet závodů MS a v letech 2000 a 2002 se radoval z celkového titulu, což by letos mohl do třetice zopakovat.
Více v originálu :
BIOGRAPHY
MARCUS GRÖNHOLM
Date of birth: 5 February 1968
Lives: Inkoo, Finland
Marital status: Married to Teresa, three children
First rally: 1987
First world rally: 1989 Rally Finland
World rallies started: 145
World rally wins: 30
Marcus Grönholm grew up with motorsport flowing through his veins. His father, Ulf, was one of Finland's leading rally drivers in the 1970s and the young Marcus started to compete in motocross at the age of just 13. His career showed promise but a knee injury brought it to a halt in 1986. However, just one year later he gained his driving licence and followed in his father's footsteps by making his rally debut in a Ford Escort.
He became Finnish junior champion in 1988 and won the national Group N title in 1991 at the wheel of a Toyota Celica. He went onto dominate the Finnish Championship, claiming four outright titles, including a hat-trick from 1996 -1998.
Although he made his WRC debut on his home rally in 1989, his chances at the highest level were few and he started only 25 WRC events in 10 seasons. Results were impressive though. A fifth placed finish in 1994 and fourth two years later in privately-entered cars on Rally Finland were bettered by fourth in Argentina in 1997. It earned him two rallies with the official Toyota team and he made his mark by leading his home event on the opening two days.
An outstanding performance on the 1998 Rally Finland earned Grönholm his big breakthrough at the age of 31 – a contract to drive with the official Peugeot team the following year. Having scaled down his work as a farmer in 1996, Grönholm was ready for the challenge, assisted by his brother-in-law and co-driver Timo Rautiainen, with whom he had renewed their partnership in 1995.
In 2000 they claimed their maiden WRC win in Sweden and also won in New Zealand, Finland and Australia to lift the drivers' title on their first attempt at the full championship and help Peugeot win the manufacturers' crown. Three more wins followed in 2001, in Finland, Australia and Great Britain, but an awful run of early-season retirements left the Finn in fourth in the drivers' series.
Grönholm bounced back in 2002 and five victories, including his third successive Rally Finland triumph, earned a second world title. The wins continued in 2003, his fifth season at Peugeot and the last for the 206 World Rally Car. He scored three victories before the French team introduced the 307 World Rally Car for 2004. It proved demanding to drive and Grönholm did well to collect a string of podium finishes as well as victories in Finland in 2004 and 2005 and Japan in 2005.
Grönholm joined the Ford team in 2006 and made a dream start with victory on his first two events in Monte Carlo and Sweden. He went on to claim a personal best seven victories to take second in the drivers' standings as Ford won the manufacturers' title, with further successes in Greece, Finland, Turkey, New Zealand and Britain. His Finland win was his sixth success on home soil.
Away from rallying Grönholm enjoys relaxing at home with his family and is a keen sports fan, both participating and watching.
BIOGRAPHY
TIMO RAUTIAINEN
Date of birth: 13 November 1964
Lives: Espoo, Finland
Marital status: Married to Micaela, two children
First rally: 1988
First world rally: 1990 Rally Finland
World rallies started: 137
World rally wins: 30
As a youngster growing up in Finland, it is hard not to become interested in rallying, such is the popularity of motorsport in that country. Such was the case with Timo Rautiainen. As a teenager living in Kirkkonummi, on the western edge of Helsinki, he used to watch local rallies before becoming more closely involved in the sport as a mechanic on some events for a friend.
In 1988 Rautiainen's best friend, Mikko Kalliomaa (now the driver of Grönholm and Rautiainen's safety car), decided to enter the Finnish Junior Championship in a Group N specification Lancia Delta and asked Rautiainen to co-drive. The duo won several rallies and finished second in the championship - behind Marcus Grönholm! The following season they moved to Germany to contest the German open championship but Rautiainen started only a few rallies there before returning to Finland for financial reasons.
Midway through 1990 Rautiainen did not have a drive and Grönholm, whose sister was dating and later married Rautiainen, asked him to co-drive in a Group N Toyota Celica in the Finnish Championship. Grönholm won the title in 1991 but the partnership ended midway through the year when his financial backer wanted a more experienced co-driver to accompany his protégé.
Rautiainen spent several years out of the sport, but in 1995 Grönholm asked him to renew their partnership and they finished second on the Rally Finland, which that season was not a full round of the world championship.
Their alliance went from strength to strength and the pair now have the longest-running partnership in the WRC. Rautiainen has accompanied Grönholm to 25 WRC victories and world titles in 2000 and 2002. He stands second in the all-time list of WRC victories for co-drivers and has won his native Rally Finland on six occasions in the last seven years.
Away from rallying Rautiainen enjoys spending time with his family at home or at their villa, reading books, watching movies or exercising. As is the Finnish tradition, he also enjoys taking a sauna, and goes there every day.
Rally legend Grönholm to retire at end of 2007 season
BP-Ford World Rally Team driver Marcus Grönholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen will both retire from the FIA World Rally Championship at the end of the 2007 season. The Finns are one of the sport's most successful pairings ever and stand second in the list of all-time rally wins with 30. They twice won the drivers' world title and currently lead the 2007 standings at the wheel of a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car in pursuit of a third crown.
Thirty-nine-year-old Grönholm said the decision was difficult, but he believed the time was right as he wanted to retire while still at the top level of the sport. This season he has already won five rallies to open a 10-point lead in the drivers' championship with five rounds remaining, and help the Blue Oval build a 46-point lead in the manufacturers' standings.
Grönholm arrived late in the WRC. After winning the Finnish championship four times, he made the breakthrough into the WRC in 1999. A year later he lifted the drivers' title on his first attempt at the full championship and claimed a second crown in 2002. He joined BP-Ford in 2006 and after a dream start with victory on his first two events in Monte Carlo and Sweden, he claimed a personal best seven wins to help Ford claim its first manufacturers' title since 1979. Victory in August's Rally Finland meant Grönholm became the first driver to win a full WRC event on seven occasions.
Rautiainen, 42, first co-drove for Grönholm in 1990. He spent several years out of the sport but the pair joined forces again in 1995 and have since enjoyed the longest-running partnership in the WRC.
"This has been an incredibly hard decision for me to make," said Grönholm. "Rallying has been my life for so many years and when the Monte Carlo Rally comes round in January to start next year's championship, it will feel strange not to be there. But the time is right for me to finish now. 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.
"This will allow me to spend more time with my wife and three children. They have fully supported me all the way through my career and I would like to thank them for that. I could not have achieved what I have without their encouragement. Now this decision is made, I want to concentrate on the remaining five rounds of the season. We lead both the drivers' and manufacturers' championships and I would like nothing more than to end my career with another title," he said.
Ford of Europe President and CEO John Fleming acknowledged Grönholm's contribution to Ford's recent WRC successes. "Marcus has done a superb job for the team and it is no coincidence that his arrival in 2006, coupled with the introduction of the new Focus RS World Rally Car, signalled the start of one of our most successful periods in the WRC. We greatly appreciate his contribution during the last two seasons and will miss him and the inspiration he brings to the team," he said.
Ford Team RS director Jost Capito added: "I will be sorry to see Marcus go but he will leave behind some great memories at Ford. He played an influential part in our first world title for 27 years last season and his appetite for victory is undiminished this year. He is one of only two drivers to have won 30 rallies in the WRC and he will go into the history books as one of the sport's all-time greats. On behalf of the whole team, I would like to thank Marcus and Timo for their whole-hearted commitment during the past two seasons and wish them the best of luck for the future."
BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson paid tribute to Grönholm. "I'm sorry that he is going to stop but I fully respect his decision. His driving achievements speak for themselves but his input to the team, in particular his encouragement and help to Mikko Hirvonen, will be greatly missed as they have formed the strongest driving partnership in the WRC. We knew his retirement was a possibility. We are developing plans for next season and when they are finalised we will confirm them. In the meantime I would like to try to help Marcus and Timo to achieve a unique feat by ending their careers with a world title in their final season together," said Wilson.
Ford
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