Rally Sweden: Day 3 Update, Kimi makes it to the finish!

Sources: Autosport.com
| WRC.com | WorldRallySport.com | Mikko
Hirvonen wins Rally Sweden |
| Stage Timetable  | Day 1 Results | Day 2 Results |
 

[… Despite an off into a snowbank on Friday, F1 star Kimi Raikkonen
completed his first ever World Rally Championship event, reaching the
finish in 30th place, 37minutes behind the leaders, in his Citroen C4
WRC. "Of course I’m not happy about getting stuck on the first day but I
maybe I’ve improved a lot since," he said. "This is definitely not an
easy rally, but we’ve got a lot more experience of the car and the notes
now. Mexico is next. I’ve never driven the car on gravel before but the
grip should be consistent. I’m looking forward to it." …]

[… This cautionary tale illustrates the necessity of
taking a measured approach to changing grip, and it was a skill that
Kimi Raikkonen had begun to master by the end of Rally Sweden. The
former F1 World Champion fulfilled his mission by getting to the end of
his first World Championship rally in the Red Bull-backed Citroen C4
WRC, having put in a consistently impressive performance.

Kimi set stage times within the top 10 overall on what was only his
sixth-ever rally, including a sixth-fastest time on Saturday. Had it not
been for a trip into the scenery on the opening day, he would have
finished comfortably within the top 10 and scored points on his debut.

"It was a really encouraging event, which allowed me to learn so much,"
said the Finn. "From the start to the finish I felt I was improving all
the time, which is what I expected from having more time in the car.
Sure, we still have a lot to learn because the whole feeling is so
different to what I had in Formula 1. But I’m getting a good idea of how
to use the pace notes now and I understand the car a bit better as
well. We wanted to have some more experience of the car and especially
get to the finish, so we have achieved everything we wanted this
weekend. Now I’m looking forward to driving gravel on the next rally in
Mexico; it should be a bit easier for me I think."

For co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, Rally Sweden was a revelation. "When you
sit alongside a driver like Kimi, you don’t expect him to be anything
other than an amazing talent, but I have to say that he surprised even
me this weekend. He was driving at a pace that was quick but extremely
controlled; we weren’t going crazy or taking any real risks. Today we
built on the progress we had made over the previous days, so I’m feeling
really confident for the future now."…]

SS21 – Varmullsasen 2:




SS20 – Rammen 2:




SS19 – Lesjofors:



SS18 – Varmullsasen 1:




SS17 – Rammen 1:



Raikkonen sure Mexico will be easier

Kimi Raikkonen is optimistic that he will fare better in the Rally
Mexico, the next round of the World Rally Championship, having reached
the finish in Sweden today.

The former Formula 1 world champion lost nearly half an hour when he
slid into a snow bank on Friday, but was able to rejoin and set some
promising stage times on his way to 30th overall.

"We lost a bit in the snow bank on the first day, and we spun three
times, but we got to the finish and we learned a lot," Raikkonen said.

"We knew this was going to be a very difficult rally. We improved a bit
all the time and that was our goal. Okay, I’m a bit disappointed to lose
the time in the snow but that’s a part of rallying."

The Finn thinks the gravel surface in Mexico will be easier for him to
handle than the Swedish snow.

"For sure everything should be a bit easier on the gravel that I know
from the past a little bit," said Raikkonen. "Everything I’ve done on
snow before has always been a little bit tricky.

"We’ll see how it goes in the test next week and hopefully we can
improve in Mexico. We should be able to."

One of Raikkonen’s targets is to make his pace notes more accurate.

"Of course it’s much easier when you go second time [through the stages]
but we had particularly good notes today and yesterday on some stages,
and that makes a massive difference when you’re not sure if the notes
are completely right," he said.

"When you go through for the second time you can change them a bit and
it makes it much, much easier. I’m sure experience makes a big, big
difference. If we come here next time it’s going to be a hell of a lot
easier. But that’s how it goes, you need to get the experience and then
you can start pushing hard.

"I don’t think it’s the driving so much, you just need to get experience
and get everything right, and the notes need to be really perfect to go
fast."

Despite Raikkonen’s incidents, his Citroen Junior team boss Benoit
Nogier was delighted with his performance.

"Kimi has made a remarkable start on his first world championship event
with us," Nogier said.

"We stuck completely to the plan that we had set out beforehand. Kimi
got progressively quicker, but also remained calm in the face of all the
new things that he had to learn."

Give Raikkonen time, urges Citroen boss

Citroen racing boss Olivier Quesnel has praised the efforts of his
latest driver signing, Kimi Raikkonen, on Rally Sweden, but has warned
the WRC community not to expect too much too soon.

Raikkonen, the
2007 Formula One world champion, completed his first ever World Rally
Championship event at the weekend, reaching the finish in 30th place, 37
minutes behind the leaders, in his Citroen C4 WRC.

He set stage
times within the top 10 overall on what was only his sixth-ever rally,
including a sixth-fastest time on Saturday. Had he not driven his car
into a snow bank on the opening day, he would have finished comfortably
within the top 10 and scored points on his debut.

Quesnel
believes it was a performance which was in line with expectations. "We
cannot ask too much of Kimi at this stage," he said. "Sweden I think is
the most difficult rally to start with, and everybody is looking at him
and waiting for – I don’t know what – but he couldn’t give more than he
has. Kimi did not do a bad job here. He told me he made too many
mistakes but it’s obvious he has to make mistakes – he’s learning!

"All
of us have to be patient – and that includes the media. Kimi will be
okay by the end of the year. It will be a long way to success but I’m
sure he’s determined and I know for sure that he wants to succeed. We
need to give him the time."

The feeling is coming, says Raikkonen

Citroen Junior Team
driver Kimi Raikkonen believes his times on the second day of Rally
Sweden show progress is being made in his bid to make it as a top line
WRC driver.

The Finn ended Saturday’s second day of the rally
more than 34 minutes behind the leaders after going off the road and
getting stuck in a snow bank during Friday’s competition. But after a
series of promising stage times on Saturday, including one sixth-fastest
time on SS15, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion felt he was starting to
get the hang of his new Citroen C4 WRC.

"Yes, it was really
good," said Kimi after only his second full day on a World Championship
rally. "I didn’t like the first stage on Saturday morning so much; then
we stalled the engine and got stuck for a little bit on the second
stage. After then it all went really well for me; it was a nice day. I’m
feeling more confident with the car and we had no problems at all. I
always knew that finding the right driving style would take a bit of
time, but now it is gradually coming. Hopefully we can have a strong
final day; I’m feeling quite confident."

Also in an upbeat mood,
Kimi’s co-driver Kaj Lindstrom said Raikkonen shared at least one
critical rally attribute with one of his previous drivers – four-time
World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen.

"You can’t really compare
Kimi to Tommi but one thing they have in common is that they both have
fantastic natural speed," said Kaj. "You can always improve your
technique and together with Kimi this is something that we are trying to
do, but you can’t actually learn the speed. Today really showed how
when you combine the right speed with the right technique things begin
to come together. I’ve been very impressed by Kimi’s progress and we’re
going to build on this in future."