Gronholm praises Richard Burns Rally participants

13th August 2010

By Giles Wade

Two-time world champion Marcus Gronholm has praised the 100-plus crews contesting the Richard Burns Memorial Rally in Norfolk, UK, this weekend.

The club-level event, which was first run in 2008, is organised annually to raise vital funds for the Richard Burns Foundation and the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Using asphalt stages located in the grounds of the RAF Marham air base near the town of King’s Lynn, more than 100 crews will take part in an eclectic mix of machinery.

Burns visited RAF Marham in 2000 where he was treated to a flight in a Tornado jet and met Sergeant Chris Daykin, one of several people instrumental in establishing the rally following Burns’ death in 2005 of an astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumour.

Gronholm, who used to partner Burns in Peugeot’s world rally team and is now a patron of the Richard Burns Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic so many people will be doing the rally but also supporting the Richard Burns Foundation and the sport as a whole. Like everybody else, including Richard of course, I started off competing on national rallies, although at home in Finland rather than in Norfolk!

“These events are vital for teaching future generations of drivers the skills they will need to compete at international level and they also provide so many people with a lot of enjoyment, while raising funds for some very important initiatives.”

Burns’ father Alex co-drove on the inaugural Richard Burns Memorial Rally in September 2008. After attending last year’s event as a spectator, Burns Sr will return alongside Gordon Jarvis in a Talbot Sunbeam Ti, a replica of his son’s first rally car.