Flying finn Toni Gardemeister has confirmed that he will start in the first IRC event of the year, the Rally Monte Carlo later this month. Gardemeister will do the rally in an Astra Racing team run Abarth Grande Punto with co-driver Tomi Tuominen in the right seat.
Gardemeister himself plays down his chances in the rally, and even though I think Gardemeister has potential to do a really good race – I have to agree he’s unlikely to win the event. Only half a day of testing and the fact that the Punto is a weaker car than the Peugeot and the Skoda (and possibly even the brand new Ford) wont favour him, but Monte is Monte and under the right (or wrong?) circumstances anything can happen.
