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Janne Tuohino Confirms WRC Return in 2010 with Fiesta S2000

The World Rally Championship will benefit from the part-time presence of another Finnish champion during the upcoming campaign in 2010. According to the WRC official site, 2-time Finnish Rally champion Janne Tuohino will join M-Sport for the FIA WRC Cup for Super 2000 cars, driving the brand new Ford Fiesta S2000.

The car was given its first proper test drive by Stobart M-Sport's WRC driver Matthew Wilson during the Rally of Scotland this weekend, but is yet to be homologated by the FIA prior to the 2010 season. The car is to be used by Ford in national rally championships across the world.

As far as Tuohino is concerned, the Finnish driver will tackle an overall 7 rounds – from the initial 10 options put in place by M-Sport – but only his first outing has been confirmed. He will definitely make the entry list in Sweden, but further from that he is yet to decide on his 2010 campaign.

For sure I'll be rallying in Jordan, Portugal, Finland and Wales. From then on one of the tarmac events in Germany or France is to be included. Then I have to choose one from Mexico, New Zealand or Japan. It’s a very hard decision,” said Tuohino, according to the WRC site.

Tuohino is no stranger to WRC action, as he has done part time campaigns with Ford and Skoda in the championship during the 2004-2005 seasons. The reason why he pushed for a rally seat with Ford this year is because it will give him a chance to gain as much experience as possible driving a S2000-based car, prior to the 2011 season.

As confirmed by the FIA earlier this year, the WRC will switch to S2000 cars starting the 2011 season, and the teams – current and newly-entrants, hopefully – will most likely go for experienced drivers rather than rookies.
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