I told you so…..

About a month ago I wrote this post.

Guess who's back....

I wondered what Prodrive were playing at when they entered Marcus in Rally Portugal.

I knew it wasn’t the one-off they all said it was and now it seems as if my predictions have come true.

David Lapworth (Big Dave) has told our friends over at crash.net that Prodrive are seriously considering a return to the WRC and are already busy planning another one-off return for later on this year.

Supported by the Portuguese Tourism board the Impreza failed to make it to the end of this weekend’s rally when Marcus characteristically rolled.

But on the stages he did complete the former champion showed how quick he could be in what we all consider to be an awful car and Big Dave was obviously excited by what he saw.

He said he considers Portugal to be unfinished business and says Marcus and Prodrive will back be in the ‘not too distant future’.

I’ll keep you updated as and when I hear any more news on this.

Exciting times.

Another one for the girls….

…. or for anyone who needs cheering up after this post and this post – they were a bit depressing to be fair.

I looked back over my closing comments today and thought ‘man, that was a bit harsh of me’. So I dug out some pics of Petter that make me smile, back in happier times when he knew how to smile himself.

I much prefer the chiseled cheekbones to the Michelin man-like look that Loeb pulls off so effortlessly.

NB Yes Petter is a bit hyperactive but believe it or not he has very gentle hands, he’s very gentle when he gives you a hug the sensitive soul that he is.

A bit hot Petter?? Cooling down during the Acropolis 2003

Those chiseled cheekbones are on display, good times

This is the Petter we know......

....and this

Bad times remembered

Warning to Subaru/Solberg/Mills fans, this video is a bit upsetting.

Talk about depressing!

You don’t really get to see what happens when a crew retires mid-stage on the tv and this video puts into perspective the frustration and disappointment both Petter and Phil must have felt throughout last year.

It’s actually quite upsetting to see them both like that.

I miss Petter and his lively antics, his dancing about and excited interviews, but most of all, and I know this sounds soppy, I miss his smile. We hardly saw it last year so as a fan I’m just hoping that being in his own team rather than one that shows him no loyalty whatsoever will bring it back.

If not, we Solberg fans we’ll just have to resign outselves to the fact that Petter is not ‘Hollywood’ Solberg any more and more like ‘Huddersfield’ Solberg – miserable and seen much better days.

Harsh, but true.

Are Prodrive planning for the future??

It’s not Marcus’s return that’s interesting me. Far from it.

He’s clearly using the opportunity to have a bit of fun. He’s said he doesn’t hold any expectations and doesn’t have any predictions of good results, but does Prodrive in the long run and what are their real motives behind this entry?

Marcus was linked to a 2009 drive with Subaru before the Japanese manufacturer pulled out of the WRC but Prodrive director Richard Taylor has said that talks with Marcus continued after December’s announcement and this week an agreement was reached for the Finn to drive in Portugal.

But why???

Unless a some top secret contract was signed Prodrive had no ties with Marcus, they don’t owe him anything so why does he have a drive? I just don’t get it.

Can Marcus turn this....

....in to this?

The history of the Impreza WRC2008 is one we all know well and one we Subaru fans would quite happily like to forget. It’s performance was poor, it struggled to finish rallies let alone keep up with the other cars. Worst of all gone were the days of the beautiful Impreza, it was god awful and looked like an old man’s car!

Why is there then now a ‘latest specification’ of it?

The car, which has already been tested in Norway, is an evolution of the 2008 model used on Wales Rally GB by Solberg and Atko and Taylor has said that although Prodrive isn’t allowed to homologate the 2009 car fully, they can put together the best specification of the car they possibly can. “It’s a one-off event this time but we’ll see if he likes it,” he added, referring to Marcus’s outing.

For me, it is that quote that is the most telling. Could it be that Prodrive are considering entering a privateer M2 team or are just using a former world champ and a famous rally as a marketing tool to drum up support for it’s customer operations?

It will definitely be interesting to see what Marcus can do with this car in comparison with Petter – if he does well, he’s the returning hero and I’ll have to realise that Petter has just lost his sparkle. But if he doesn’t, it confirms the belief that the car is just, well, crap.

If Marcus does manage to tease some raw speed out of the car could Prodrive find some short-term funding and run a team? I don’t know, I really don’t, there are far too many questions surrounding this piece of news.

There is certainly far more to this ‘outing’ than Marcus just having the retired rally driver’s ‘itch’ but yet again it’s a case of sitting back and waiting to see if anything emerges from it. Only time will tell.

Marcus returns!

He's back!

Well, well well, the big news this week is that two time world champion Marcus Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen are coming out of retirement.

Marcus will be driving the latest specification of the Subaru Impreza WRC2008 for a one-off appearance in Rally Portugal in early April. The car will be run by Prodrive with backing from Rally Portugal and it’s sponsor Vodaphone.

I can’t wait to see the comedy duo back on stages, it’ll be good to get some of that light-hearted banter back that we all know and love.