The Toughest Race of My Career
If I would be an icehockeystar, I would say that finishing the Jordan rally in points felt like
getting rid of a monkey away from my shoulder. O’boy, it gave a great
feeling for me. For sure, it was the toughest race of my life. We
managed to finish it and it was perfect to get the first points of the
season at the same time.
My friend Teemu Selanne has sometimes told me, how special feeling
it is to score a goal after some games without getting any. Now I know,
how it must feel for him. To get everything right in the Jordan rally,
gave us a big relief. While you try and try your very best and you
finally succeed, obviously, you’ll be happy.
Me and Kaj Lindstrom, my co-driver, shared the same great feeling on
Saturday after finishing the rally without any mistakes of our own.
That was the first waypoint we had to achieve before setting any other
targets.
It was very hot place, indeed. But it was quite surprising that it
didn’t feel that bad inside the car. Actually, it felt even a little bit
‘cool’.
It was the toughest rally I ever done and we drove the longest
special stage I ever had before – 41,5 km twice. That was so long, I
started to think, if it’s an ever lasting oroad. But finishing it
finally, gave the best of the feelings. In the end of the day, it was a
great stage, no doubt of it!
It was a difficult rally, but we eventually achieved our objective.
It was great job from all the team. I’m feeling more and more
comfortable in the Citroen C4 WRC every day.
This is not a solitary sport. We have been working hard with Kaj
Lindstrom and without him I would never have learned this rally racing
as quickly as we did. Kaj is working flat out. I’m grateful for him and I
hope we share the good moments like in Jordan as soon as possible
again.
The whole team was happy. The team bosses were all smiles.
Personally I felt good the get a better feeling with the car on the
gravel.
Obviously, I’m looking forward for the next rally of Turkey. It’s
exciting to see how we go in the next rally in Instanbul.
Now it’s time for a short break and rest. Then it’s back to
business. After some work out in the gym we go next week to Turkey and
start there again from zero.
Kimi’s WRC Pirelli Blog
Source: WRC.com
Blog three: Wednesday 7 April. 0900hrs.
"Looking
back on it now, I think I would have been quite surprised if somebody
had told me before the season that the first drivers’ points I would
score would come in Jordan. Of all the rallies I did so far it was the
most difficult, but still I ended up with four points for finishing
eighth.
Rallying seems to be one of these sports where the more
you learn, the less you know. What I mean is that just when you think
you have one problem solved, you realise how much further you have to
go.
But actually, this is exactly how I imagined it would be. I
never expected to come in and be straight into the front, just as I
wouldn’t expect somebody like Sebastien Loeb to come into Formula One
and be straight at the front. Most drivers are naturally impatient – you
want everything, now. But when you start something from the beginning,
you have to control that impulse.
I’m actually enjoying the
process of learning all over again; it’s like my early days in Formula
One. It’s not that Formula One got boring for me, but you get very used
to something if you do it for long enough, and rallying has given me a
great change of scene at a time when I needed it.
As for the
future…who knows? I’m not even thinking about it. At some point in the
year, maybe halfway through it, I’ll have to start thinking about what
to do next, but until then there’s no point in worrying about it. Let’s
just say that for the moment I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.
Rallying has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and now I
get the chance to live my dream. How many people can say that? Motor
sport is so pressured and commercial all the time, that it’s easy to
forget the reason why you started to do it in the first place; because
it’s the most fun you can have. This year is all about that for me.
I
have a bit of time off now before the Rally of Turkey, which I think
should be a slightly more straightforward event for us than Jordan. From
what I hear the surfaces there should be more consistent, which will
help me a lot, although the temperatures are going to be the same – or
maybe even hotter. Although I sweat quite a lot that’s never really
bothered me: I mostly don’t notice it. This ice man doesn’t melt…"
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
Kimi Jordan review in Finnish, courtesy of Nicole :)———————-THROUGH THE TOUGHEST WAYIf I were to use hockey-language then a monkey fell off my back when I crossed the finish line in Jordan rally. We finally did get there and it was cool that we opened our bag of points at the same time.In icehockey Teemu and the gang say that the monkey is falling from the neck when they make a goal after a long time. Now I know myself what it feels like and also the relief after squeezing for a long time and getting the result you want, in this case getting to the finish line.Kaitsu and I had good feelings on Saturday when we finished the rally without any own mistakes. It’s the first step until we can set other goals.Jordan was a hot place. But it was a surprise in itself that during the stages it was even ‘cool’ inside the car. The air changes well and while driving you don’t even notice the heat. The sweat was flooding – but mainly only after the stages.We drove my toughest rally and the longest SS that I have ever taken with a rallycar. 41,5 km twice. It was beforehand a stage where you were thinking ‘does it ever stop’. But after the stage the feeling in the end was ‘did it already stop’! Great stage!This is a great job and when we reached this result you start of course waiting for better in the future. You really can’t work on this alone. Kaitsu has taken care of the jobs with a 10. Thanks to him I have got so quickly into the rally-business. We both had good feelings when our third WRC-rally with this car fell into place like this.The bosses looked like they were really satisfied with this race.The car is strong. It’s a winning car. I felt the whole weekend that I’m more and more used to the surface. I wait with a 10 to see how the next gravel rally goes. I’m sure that Jordan is a cool place but we have such a tight schedule during our trips that we don’t have time to go to museums. But at least I had time to float in the Dead Sea. Quite an interesting experience. We left home right after the race.Now it’s a little rest and training. Next week we will go to Turkey and put a new worm to the hook again.———————-
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Also, watch KimiRaikkonen.com’s rally Jordan video: http://www.kimiraikkonen.com/videos/5.asp
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