Some drivers’ names belong alongside certain manufacturers.
Sébastien Loeb and Citroën. Thierry Neuville and Hyundai. Colin McRae and Subaru. Nowadays, Andreas Mikkelsen and Škoda.
Toyota wouldn’t be the first that springs to mind for Marcus Grönholm. He won his two world titles with Peugeot, and with Ford ‘Bosse’ racked up a further 12 WRC wins in just two seasons.
But none of that would have happened without Toyota, as Grönholm explains in his latest Ai, Ai, Ai column exclusive to Club DirtFish.
“Ove [Andersson] wanted to keep helping me,” Grönholm said.
And that meant a lot to Grönholm, as he believes others either overlooked or forgot about him.
The turning point, unquestionably, was Rally Finland 1998. Driving a third Corolla WRC alongside main team drivers Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol, Grönholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen were all to used to disaster in the world championship and so it proved again – they lost a wheel, went off the road and lost four minutes.
But with nothing to lose, Grönholm made a decision that would unlock the rest of his career. He sent it.
“While Tommi Mäkinen and Juha Kankkunen were fighting for the win, I won five of the six stages that day. Suddenly, everyone was like: “Who is this farmer Grönholm making the best times here?!” he said. “That’s when everything changed overnight.
“When I went home after Rally Finland 1998, I had four offers from four different teams come through on my fax machine for the next year – don’t forget that these were the days before emails, at least they were for me!
“Toyota offered me a deal, as did Peugeot and Subaru. Malcolm Wilson even flew to Helsinki to meet me in person to discuss driving the Focus for 1999! Seat also approached me, and that’s where Timo wanted to go because he thought “the team looked nice” with its set-up. Timo usually gives good advice, but I’m happy I didn’t listen to him that particular time…”
Grönholm joined Peugeot for ’99 and the rest, as they say, is history. A history Grönholm is eternally thankful to Toyota for.
Grönholm's 'dream' is to work for Toyota and repay it for its faith in him
“While I won my titles with Peugeot and had some good years with Ford, I’ll always be grateful to Toyota and what they did for me in my early years as a driver, because other teams always overlooked or forgot about me,” he said.
“Toyota always made good rally cars, and what they’ve done in the WRC as Toyota Gazoo Racing with the Yaris WRC and GR Yaris Rally1 is little short of incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that in my time involved with the sport.
“If I’m being honest, it’s my dream to work with Toyota again to pay them back for the belief they showed in me during the ‘90s. Maybe something in rallycross would be cool? I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. But if you’re reading, Jari-Matti, don’t forget you have my number…”
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