Finnish rally driver Marcus Grönholm celebrated his 38th birthday in style by taking his 20th FIA world rally victory in the Swedish Rally on Sunday. Grönholm's number one position also notched up the 50th FIA victory for his team, Ford.
"The most important thing is that I have now won both my races in a new team with a new car. One could not have hoped for a better start for the season. The future looks bright", said a delighted Grönholm. The driver moved to Ford from Peugeot at the end of last season.
Just as in Monte Carlo two weeks ago, second place was once again secured by the reigning world champion Sébastien Loeb (Citroën). In the end, the Frenchman trailed 30.9 seconds behind the Finn.
The fact that Grönholm won 10 of the 19 special stages in Sweden reflects his supremacy on snow and ice.
After the Monte Carlo race, where victory slipped through asphalt specialist Loeb's fingers due to his own error, Grönholm promised to take the Swedish race purely by driving. The Finn kept his word, and now tops the World Championship standings with the maximum points (20).
The third and fourth positions were taken by two Mitsubishi drivers, Daniel Carlsson of Sweden and Gianluigi Galli of Italia.
The next WRC rally will be in Mexico in early March.
