Former factory World Rally Championship driver Toni Gardemeister has formed his own team for the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season.
Gardemeister has not yet announced what car the new TGS Worldwide Ou squad will run or which events he will contest, but had hinted during last month's Monte Carlo Rally that he would be able to make a fully fledged comeback this season.
"TGS is a new brand in motorsport, but is based on many years of experience," said Gardemeister. "All our mechanics and engineers have great experience in rallying and worked with me for a long time on different world events. I'm absolutely confident in their skills and sure that my team is the best way to realize all my future plans."
The 35-year-old Finn was a WRC regular between 1999 and 2008, and drove for SEAT, Ford, Mitsubishi, Skoda and Suzuki's works teams, until losing his world championship place when the latter squad pulled out at the end of '08. His only international appearances since then have been one-off outings in the IRC's Monte Carlo opener each year.