Marcus Grönholm Rallying

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30.10.2009 - Double WRC Champ Gronholm completes Race of Champions line-up

Two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm will return to competition next week when The Race of Champions takes place in the Bird's Nest Stadium, Beijing. The first time the event has taken place outside Europe in its 22-year-history.

The Finnish star, who won rallying's premier crown in 2000 and 2002, will compete in The Race of Champions, in an event he won in 2002. On Wednesday 4 November, a day after he and Mikko Hirvonen team up to race for Finland in The ROC Nations Cup. Finland has twice won The ROC Nations Cup, the last time being in 2006, when Gronholm was paired with F1 star Heikki Kovalainen.

- The Race of Champions is great fun, and I missed competing in it last year, said Gronholm. Everyone has a laugh, but you always want to win, and because you're in the same cars you don't have the excuses if you don't. It's exciting, and I think racing in China will be fantastic.

Gronholm was also full of praise for Hirvonen, who narrowly missed on the World Rally title at the weekend after a dramatic battle with three-time Race of Champions winner Sébastien Loeb.

- Well done to Mikko for his performance this year. He's very quick and he doesn't make many mistakes, which makes him a tough driver to beat. I know he won't take long to get used to the event format in Beijing and when he does, Finland will have a very strong team.

The final slot in this year's line-up has been filled by Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit, who won the 2009 FIA Cross Country Cup and will join Yvan Muller in France’s ROC Nations Cup team.

The ROC Nations Cup will feature a group stage this year, with 10 teams battling in three groups to decide who progresses to the semi-finals. With the draw having been made by officials from the Olympic Stadium, Beijing Sport Bureau and Chinese Auto Federation, Finland will race in Group A, against the German team of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, the Australian team of Mick Doohan and Jamie Whincup, and the Chinese team whose drivers will be decided in ROC China on Monday 2 November.

Each team willrace all the others in their group and the two nations with the lowest number of wins will be eliminated, leaving four teams to progress to the semi-finals.