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          Timerzyanov to drive for Grönholm

          Racing in GRC will be new, but Timur Timerzyanov expects to be in familiar territory in front of the field. www.hansen-motorsport.se
          • ESPN.com Action Sports
          Oct 19, 2012, 08:05 AM

          Global RallyCross driver Marcus Grönholm, who is still recovering from injuries from a crash at X Games, will miss the season finale Oct. 30 in Las Vegas, but his team has brought in a talented replacement to compete in Round 6.

          Timur Timerzyanov, who won the 2012 FIA European RallyCross Championship last month, will drive Grönholm's Ford Fiesta MK7 in the final round of the Global RallyCross Championship in Las Vegas at the Specialty Equipment Market Association [SEMA] Show, Best Buy Racing announced Wednesday.

          "When Marcus Grönholm confirmed that he wasn't available for SEMA, we wanted a rallycross driver of the very best caliber," Mark Williams, who manages Best Buy Mobile's rallycross program, said in a news release. "And we very quickly landed on Timur who dominated the 2012 European RallyCross Championship."

          Grönholm, 44, was suffered head injuries and was knocked unconscious when his car hit an exposed light post base after clearing the jump during RallyCross practice June 30 at X Games Los Angeles 2012.

          The Finnish driver had won the first two rounds of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway but has since missed each round while he recovers from the injuries.

          Rallycross veteran Andreas Eriksson, the CEO of OMSE, the team that prepares and manages the Ford Fiesta GRC, drove for Grönholm in the Best Buy Mobile Ford Fiesta in the last round Sept. 29 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and finished ninth in the 15-car field.

          Timerzyanov, a 25-year-old from Tatarstan in the Russian Federation, has never raced in the United States but he is accustomed to battling GRC points leader Tanner Foust, who also competes in the ERC. Foust, who also drives a Ford in GRC, finished third in ERC this year.

          "I am excited by this opportunity to race in America and to try the Ford Fiesta MK7 that Tanner has used against me all year," Timerzyanov, who will be racing a Ford for the first time, said in a news release. "GRC runs very different courses to those I am used to, but I know the Best Buy Mobile Ford Fiesta is a really good car, so I expect to be at the front of the field."

          Global RallyCross overall standings through five of six rounds