Marcus Grönholm discovered the world of rallying at a very early stage of his life when he witnessed the feats of his father, who was among the best Finnish rallymen in the 1970s. In 1981, Marcus made his first steps in motorsport, riding a motocross. During five years, he participated to motocross events before a knee injury forced him to stop. Marcus decided to make a switch to rallies and took part in his first race in 1987, immediately after getting his driver's license.

From 1989 to 1998, Marcus competed in twenty five World Rally Championship events, including races in Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Great Britain, New Zealand, Catalunya and Argentina. A good result in the 1998 edition of Rally Finland gave a new turn to his career. Noticed by Peugeot, the French manufacturer offered him a two-year contract to drive the new 206 WRC.

After a learning season in 1999, Gronholm started his first full WRC season in 2000 with great success, winning the Drivers' World Championship title with a total of four victories, including his very first WRC win in Sweden.

The start of the 2001 season was more difficult; Marcus retired in many events. However the second half of the season was more positive, helping him to clinch fourth place in the championship.

Despite a modest fifth place in the 2002 season opener in Monte Carlo, Marcus picked-up the pace and achieved five victories en route to win his second World Championship title. The Finn continued his winning ways in 2003 by finishing first in Sweden, New Zealand and Argentina. Unfortunately, the rest of the season wasn't as good for Gronholm. Peugeot stopped the development work on the 206 to concentrate on the preparation of the upcoming 307. Marcus did not have a sufficiently competitive car to face the competition.

Pushing hard to compensate for his car's shortcomings, Marcus made some driving errors that often resulted into retirements.

2004 was another difficult season for Marcus. The new 307 WRC was not always reliable, putting more pressure on the entire team. Gronholm managed to clinch fifth place in the championship.