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Gronholm rues poor preparation

Marcus Gronholm feels it was probably a mistake to try a one-off World Rally Championship comeback without more testing first

The double world champion struggled to get up to speed in the Rally Sweden today even before an electrical problem saw him stranded on SS5 for 13 minutes.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he now regretted committing to this rally, Gronholm replied: "Maybe, a little bit. I didn't have enough time in the car. Thinking about it, I was doing more cross-country skiing than I was driving and this is not the best preparation. I needed more time in the car to get ready."

He believes he would have been capable of a podium finish had he been better prepared.

"I think if we had made the good start and found the right rhythm, it could have been possible to do this if we had done some more testing," said Gronholm. "But it's not going to happen now."

The Finn felt he was getting to grips with his Stobart Ford just before the electrical glitch, so hopes to at least set some quick stage times tomorrow.

"After the service park, the driving was coming a little bit better, it felt okay," said Gronholm, who is now 31st in the overall standings.

"Now I just want to drive better again. [The aim is] to try and drive more like I can. It will be okay tomorrow, some more nice stages and we can have a look."

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