By Bill Wood

Here are some Things You Should Know:

Marcus Gronholm Two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm has confirmed he will return to motorsport and contest a full programme of Global Rallycross events in America this year. Gronholm will form part of the Best Buy Team along with British driver David Binks. They will both drive 600bhp Ford Fiestas built by Andreas Eriksson and Olsberg's Motorsport Evolution firm. The Finn tested his Fiesta for two days in Los Angeles last week before confirming his commitment to a season-long schedule for the first time since retiring from a 17-year professional WRC career at the end of 2007. The 44-year-old Finn won 30 of the 152 WRC rounds he started. Here's more: From last year's A Final at Irwindale, the GRC debut.

Marcus Gronholm will be part of the Tech House & Speed guest list tonight. We had some time alone with the great driver to learn that he'll be in the GRC full-time again this year. He ran all but one round last year and nearly won the championship losing in the end to Tanner Foust. Also on the guest list: ALMS Monterey winner Klaus Graf, Andreas Eriksson who runs the team that Gronholm will work with, Olsbergs MSE Ford, Toomas Heikkinen, David Binks, Brian Deegan and Foust. It's a special party with the MSE team. We also hear from Eriksson who built the Dodge Dart that Travis Pastrana will use in the GRC when the season starts at the end of the month. Winners. Champions. Legends. Tech House & Speed. Wednesday. 8pm EDT (UTC-4). Race Fan Radio.

Recap of the 2012 Formula Drift Round 2 Road Atlanta with Rhys Millen. Finished 5th for the weekend and moved into 4th in points.

Amphibious Car Project - Sea Lion. Manufacturer: M. Witt. On display @ Fantasy Junction: (http://tinyurl.com/6nxmf4x) Video by Eric Costanzo - Video Corner Studios (videocornerstudios.com)

Now, What Do You Think? this week: Which of the following is having the biggest impact on Americans committed to the American stage rally championship? X Games, Rallycross, Not enough fans, Competition is too tough, Teams won't hire American drivers. You can vote at www.ByBillWood.com. GET BUSY!! Take a minute to vote. Learn something about yourself! http://www.bybillwood.com/online/

$225,000 Lamborghini Gallardo racing through turn on Chicago suburb street doesn't end well. Good thing I had the video camera out to record it all. Can't believe this actually happened.

Due to his Olympic Games’ commitments, Nasser Al-Attiyah will be unable to take part in Rally New Zealand, the seventh round of the World Rally Championship, which is set to be held in Auckland on 21-24 June of this year. The Qatari has chosen to entrust his Citroën DS3 WRC to the Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul crew, who will race on behalf of the Qatar World Rally Team.

It would certainly be no understatement to say that Nasser At-Attiyah is a busy man! The Qatari simply never stops: official entrant in the WRC and a regular competitor in the Middle East Rally Championship, he also somehow finds time to take part in rally-raids and Skeet shooting competitions. Despite his unwavering commitment to the WRC, the opportunity to represent his country for the fifth consecutive Olympic Games, in one of the shooting events, was too good to turn down and so he had to miss the New Zealand round. Attached to Thierry’s human qualities and aware of his potential in the DS3 WRC, Nasser didn’t hesitate in choosing the Belgian driver to take his place for the rally in the ‘land of the long white cloud’.

“I have to complete some training sessions in preparation for the London Olympic Games, and so I can’t take part in this exceptional race,” explained Nasser. “We are official entrants in the World Championship and it is mandatory for us to compete in every round. It didn’t take much thinking time to realise who should take my place in the no.7 Citroën DS3 WRC! I trust Thierry, but most of all I want him to be able to gain as much experience from taking part in this event as possible and for it to be beneficial to him. I am equally convinced that he is more than capable of scoring points for the Qatar World Rally Team.”

“This is more than just a great opportunity, it is a real honour for me to be trusted in this way by the team,” said the Belgian driver, visibly pleased. “This event wasn’t part of our schedule and without this offer, I would never have been able to race on the legendary tracks of the Pacific coast. We will do everything in our power to defend the colours of the Qatar World Rally Team. I'd like to thank them for giving us the opportunity to experience such a great event.”

Here are some Things You Should Know:

Dani Sordo claimed victory on round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse, following a faultless performance in a MINI John Cooper Works S2000 on his debut in the all-action series. Jan Kopecký beat Corsican hero Pierre Campana in a thrilling battle for second place that raged up until the end of the final stage and, with MINI not registered for IRC manufacturer points, the Czech's effort means ŠKODA extends its lead in the battle for makes' points, while fifth place for Andreas Mikkelsen ensures the Norwegian continues to top the drivers' standings after four rounds. Here's more: Sordo testing before Corsica.

Highlights from SS8: Erbajolo-Pont d'Altiani 2 broadcast by Eurosport. After SS8: Kopecky quickest as car fire halts stage Jan Kopecký has strengthened his grip on second place on Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse with the fastest time through Friday's final test, the repeat of the 24.67-kilometre Erbajolo-Pont d'Altiani stage.

After a record-setting 2011 Trans Am season, racer Amy Ruman is looking forward to an even stronger 2012. Ruman, who closed the 2011 season with a breakthrough run to victory in the final Trans Am race of the year, became the first woman to win a Trans Am race in the series’ long history. With three podium finishes during the season, Ruman finished third in last year’s championship and has good reason for her optimistic outlook on the 2012 season. 2012 marks Ruman’s sixth year in the category and her new No. 23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld sponsored C6 Corvette will give her the best shot at a championship campaign yet as she follows in her father’s footsteps in Trans Am. The Corvette has some racing history behind it, but is new to the Ruman Racing group and marks a large step forward in performance.

The 2012 championship features a ten-race, eight venue schedule and Ruman will look to get some early-season momentum with a podium performance when the season kicks off on May 20 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as part of the annual Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Trans Am will travel to various prestigious circuits around the country including Ruman’s home track of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 10.

Rally Candy: Best Of Rallye Du Printemps 2012 by SudRallye .

Rally Candy from Devillersvideo: "Here are some of my best videos of the 2011 season, Belgian rallye, IRC, WRC, everything is there! Slides, show crash, passages 5 stars ... If you want to see more, it is possible to get a DVD with even more videos (unseen footage) more info: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hillclimb Candy: Alexander Strobl - Ford Escort Cosworth - part of the 38TH International Rechberg Race on April 24th & 25th.

ZLATKOV Nikolay - AUDI Quattro S1 - Rechberg 2012 and OnBoard(s)

Discover the latest from the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The C63 AMG Black Series is a 510 hp track machine with a dark side. Looking like a blot of inky darkness in Magno Night Black, with the big 6.2-liter V-8 barking and snorting while it slides around corners, it's clear that this car wasn't just built to take to the track; it was built to be the best.

Now, What Do You Think? this week: Which of the following is having the biggest impact on Americans committed to the American stage rally championship? X Games, Rallycross, Not enough fans, Competition is too tough, Teams won't hire American drivers. You can vote at www.ByBillWood.com. GET BUSY!! Take a minute to vote. Learn something about yourself! http://www.bybillwood.com/online/

According to Bloomberg, Apple will be unveiling its new lineup of thinner MacBook Pros at WWDC, the company’s annual developer conference, which will be kicking off on June 11. Apple is also expected to announce the release date for Mac OS X Mountain Lion as well as preview some new iOS features. The new MacBook Pros are expected to feature Intel’s latest 22nm Ivy Bridge processors and possibly a high-resolution Retina display. Bloomberg’s sources have confirmed that the new MacBook Pros will have a slimmer design, similar to that of the MacBook Air. They also confirmed that Apple will be using flash memory to help speed up boot times and to extend battery life, although it’s not clear whether it would be used in conjunction with a conventional hard drive or used exclusively as is done on MacBook Airs. Here's more:

Phoenixville, Pa. – May 14, 2012 – The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude won round four of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) race on Saturday at New Jersey Motorsports Park near Millville, N.J.

Although the team qualified on the pole position, Aquilante, Spaude, and their race-prepared  #35 Subaru WRX STI, had to charge through the field from 45th place on lap 31, after serving stop-and-go penalties.

“This win has been coming for a long time,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville, Pa., which prepares the team’s Subaru race cars. “The Subaru excels on track configurations that reward superior handling qualities over outright top speed.”

Bret Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., earned his first CTSCC series pole position with a 91.373mph lap of the 2.25-mile Thunderbolt Raceway configuration of the multi-faceted racetrack.  Spaude dropped back to second place at the start and held that position, staying close to the bumper of Lawson Aschenbach’s race-leading car. On lap 25, Spaude pitted for gas, fresh tires, and turned the driving over to teammate Andrew “AJ” Aquilante.

A stop-and-go penalty plus an additional 30 seconds for accidental contact with a neighboring team’s spare tire on the way out of the pit box dropped the team to 45th place. Aquilante went on a determined charge; he was in fourth place by lap 56 when the team called him in for a final pit stop, dropping the Subaru Road Racing Team entry to 12th place after pit out.

“I dug myself a hole, when I incurred those pit lane infractions, and just had to drive my way out of it,” Andrew Aquilante explained. “I know we have a great car, and when things like that happen, you just have to stay cool, put your head down and drive the wheels off." This press release is available at www.media.subaru.com