Marcus Gronholm - Burns Foundation: Q&A
Two-time world rally champion Marcus Gronholm has been appointed as patron of the Richard Burns Foundation, a charity set-up in honour of England's 2001 world title-winner Richard Burns, who died of a brain tumour in November 2005 aged 34. Here Gronholm explains why he wanted to get involved...
Q:
Marcus, why have you become a patron of the Richard Burns Foundation?
Marcus Gronholm:
I wanted to do something personally. Richard suffered so terribly with illness and it was such a shock when we heard of his condition. We did many years together with Richard in rallying, as rivals first and then as team-mates when he came to Peugeot. We had many good fights together and I want to make people remember him. Also the Richard Burns Foundation is raising money for some important things so it is good to help.
Q:
What will you do to help the Foundation this year?
MG:
We start now in Sweden. I have on my car some stickers of the Richard Burns Foundation and some patches on my overalls to make people aware. There will be many events happening this year to raise funds and I hope to help with these.
Q:
How is the money going to be raised?
MG:
We will look at World Rally Championship events and other events such as the Beaujolais Run in France and the Richard Burns Memorial Rally in England. It is important we make people realise this is an international charity. Richard was British but he was also a world champion and we want to remind people of that by raising awareness and funds internationally.
Q:
What difference can the Foundation make to people's lives?
MG:
It can help families with a family member who has cancer by raising money for them. We also want to help young people with brain tumours and brain injuries living in areas close to where the World Rally Championship visits.
Q:
Could you share a couple of memories you have of Richard with us?
MG:
When we were in the rallies together I didn't really like him because I was always fighting so hard to beat him and he beat me many times. We had some big fights, especially in Finland and New Zealand, where he was always very quick.
