Grönholm RX has confirmed its return to the World Rallycross Championship with an unchanged driver line-up of Niclas Grönholm and Timur Timerzyanov.
The pair will campaign a pair of newly-upgraded, WRC-derived Hyundai i20 Supercars and the team is looking to continue its trend of continually improved performance.
“After two years of running, I can say that I am happy with our progressing performance, and I hope we can do even better in 2020,” said GRX team principal and two-time World Rally champ Marcus Grönholm.
“We have retained the driver line-up of Niclas and Timur, both of whom are fast and know the car extremely well, so we just need to keep our focus clear, stay out of trouble and hope that both drivers keep healthy this year. If we can succeed in all of this, the success will follow.”
Niclas Grönholm won two rounds in 2019, claiming victories in Norway and South Africa, and also the Abu Dhabi season opener before it was stripped from him in a post-race ruling. Champion Timmy Hansen was the only other driver to win multiple rounds. Grönholm finished the campaign in fourth place however, having missed two rounds while he recovered from appendicitis.
“We had a strong package last year – the combination of the team, car and drivers was a real fit, so I feel confident going into the 2020 season,” said the 23-year-old.
“Obviously, I’m hoping to continue where I left off in Cape Town last year. I also think we have focused on the right things during the winter break and feel that, as long as we continue our hard work, it will pay off in the best possible way. This will be one hell of a season for GRX.”
Team mate Timerzyanov, a two-time European Rallycross champion, claimed his first World RX win at Spa-Francorchamps in Grönholm’s absence, and is eyeing a title push in 2020.
“We’ve proven that we can win and fight for the titles, so in 2020 I will be even more focused and motivated on achieving my life-long dream,” he said. “I was really looking forward to racing on my home soil at the brand-new Igora Drive track, but unfortunately that won’t happen this season. I am sure that in the remaining 10 rounds we will have some awesome racing with great fights and a lot of on-track action.”
