Gronholm: No chance of WRC return

Marcus Gronholm says there is no chance he will compete again in the World Rally Championship despite his recent appointment as Volkswagen's test driver.

The Finn retired from full-time rallying seven years ago, and says he has no desire to return to the series, but he is enjoying his new role with the German team. Gronholm tested the 2015-specification Polo R WRC for the first time earlier this month, when he drove on gravel for a day in the south of France, and will test again next month.

"When the first contact came from Volkswagen, I said to them: 'But you are winning everything! What can I do?'" Gronholm related. "There was some more talking and so I told them to make me a proposition.

"But this is just for the testing; it is definitely not a step in the direction to come back."

Although unwilling to be drawn on specifics of the car, the two-time WRC champion was complimentary about both the Polo and the 1.6-liter specification of World Rally Cars.

"It's a good car," he said. "After one lap, I said: 'OK, this car is a nice one, I can drive this.'

"Maybe it doesn't have the torque we had from the [two-liter World Rally Cars] but the chassis and the suspension is really nice. I didn't take any times, but I would definitely say the cars are faster now."