Gronholm to test MINI Countryman WRC in Portugal
2nd September 2010By Giles Wade
Marcus Gronholm will begin testing the MINI Countryman WRC in Portugal next week.
The double world champion has been linked to a full-time return to the sport with the Prodrive-based team, but he will not make his decision until he has driven the car on the gravel next week.
The Countryman began running at Prodrive’s Warwick test track in England earlier this week. The car is running in complete form with the BMW-developed 1.6-litre turbocharged engine in place. Prodrive managing director Richard Taylor said the decision to take the car to Portugal was based on testing the car on a variety of different surfaces.
He said: “We can simulate different rallies and different surfaces out there,” he said. “And we have some good data from previous tests out there as well.”
Taylor had no comment to make on who would be driving the car in Portugal, but said he hoped to make an announcement on drivers in the near future. Gronholm was unavailable for comment when contacted about the test.
