Kimi Raikkonen has shrugged off his Rally Mexicoaccident as an inevitable part of his transition from Formula 1 to the
World Rally Championship.
The former Ferrari F1 driver had to retire from the Mexican WRC round
yesterday when he rolled his Citroen Junior C4 several times near the
end of SS7. He had previously fallen down the order due to a loose
connection in the car’s fuel system forcing him to stop for half an hour
on SS2.
"It was very unlucky: the car just slid wide at the end of the stage in a
slippery braking area, so we clipped the side of the road and rolled a
few times," Raikkonen explained.
"I had hoped for some good things from this rally, but it was only my
seventh event and I am still learning. It’s normal that when you are
learning anything you can get caught out by something unexpected and
this is what happened to me today."
The Finn was pleased with his pace prior to the accident, having been
seventh quickest on SS4 and fifth on the asphalt Coca Cola Street stage.
"My biggest disappointment is that we’re not able to continue, as I
wanted to have as much time in the car as I could," he said. "I had a
really good feeling earlier and I wanted to push to see what we could
do. I’m sure we will come back stronger at our next event."
His co-driver Kaj Lindstrom agreed that Raikkonen had made good
progress, and played down the accident.
"It was a shame that we ended our rally how we did as Kimi was making
excellent progress, both with the driving and the pace notes," said
Lindstrom.
"When we went off we were in a braking area for a left and then a righthand corner with lots of dust and sand. Kimi had been driving perfectly
to the notes and it’s the sort of thing that could happen to anyone.
"Up until then things had been going really well, and I’m confident that
we’ll be on track again at our next event. It’s all part of the game."
Citroen Junior boss Benoit Nogier also felt that Raikkonen had shown
promise between his misfortunes.
"Kimi lost time this morning with a technical problem that was not at
all his fault. Afterwards, he set some impressive times," Nogier said.
"He decided to up the pace on SS7, a stage where he felt comfortable.
Unfortunately, he went off shortly before the stage finish."
FUCK ISRAEL 
Courtesy of Apple at PF1 forums:———————–"TS writes Kimis back is in constant pain but Kimi has been used to it and doesnt speak about it( which is quite understandable, its easier to forget when you dont talk about it).The laser treatment wasnt surgical operation, its treatment he got in Mexico too during the stops.He would need six week total rest to get rid of the pain but he has only four week and one test too before Jordania rally.This pain isnt hindering him to drive the whole season says Robertson, Kimi has been there earlier as the damage came in his shunts in 2001 and later in two major shunts he suffered. "———————–
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not a good thing this accident for his back problem but I’m sure that Kimi will return ok for Jordania and he’ll be able to make the difference. he’s improving the new driving style as Kaj says in last interviews, so I totally trust in Kimi!!people will say that he’s not suited for rally but every driver in this serie had accidents in career, expecially at the very beginning!!so keep flying, Kimi!!!! the best everywhere you are!!!!!!!
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