There were originally seven wonders of the ancient world: the Colossus
of Rhodes (a big statue), the Pyramids at Giza (the only ancient wonder
that still exists), the hanging gardens of Babylon (a cheat, as they
didn’t actually hang), the mausoleum at Halicarnassus (so that Greek
leaders could enjoy being dead), the statue of Zeus at Olympia
(apparently even bigger than the Colossus) and the Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus (again, think super-size).
The final wonder was the lighthouse at Alexandria. When it was built, in
around 280BC, it was around 135 metres high: making it the tallest
structure in the world for several centuries. These days, it would
probably be classified as a low-rise building in downtown Manhattan.
The island that the lighthouse was built on was called Pharos, which
eventually became the Latin word for ‘lighthouse’ as well. Faro in
Portugal, the coastal venue for round six of the World Rally
Championship, also sports a number of elaborate lighthouses: no doubt
inspired by the wonder of Alexandria.
It will be an eighth wonder if Red Bull driver Kimi Raikkonen gets near
the podium on what will only be his sixth World Rally Championship event
of any description and just his fifth event at the wheel of the Citroen
Junior Team C4 WRC.
But that is the objective that the former Grand Prix champion is
steadily working towards and with every rally he is showing a distinct
improvement. On his last rally, in Turkey, the Finn finished an
excellent fifth overall – boosting his confidence for the future.
Portugal is a somewhat different proposition. It’s one of the classics
on the World Rally Championship calendar and consequently all the top
drivers know it well. The last Portuguese Grand Prix was held at Estoril
in 1996 – five years before Kimi started driving in Formula One – so he
has never even competed in Portugal at the top level. In fact, he has
never even been to Portugal before.
"I’ve been testing in France, but it’s not the same as being in
competition. The other drivers have been to New Zealand – which wasn’t
on my programme – and they also know the Rally of Portugal well, so it’s
not going to be easy for us.
That doesn’t really bother me though, as Iam here to learn more than anything else. The final result at the end
of the rally doesn’t matter to me really: it’s all about how much
information I can take away for the future. We’re just continuing our
improvement step by step."
Co-driver Kaj Lindstrom has considerably more experience of Portugal,
having competed in 1999 and 2001. On those occasions though the rally
was held in the north of the country around Porto: where a pre-rally
roadshow took place on the Sunday before the start. Sharing a car with
Citroen’s factory drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo, who are also
backed by Red Bull, Kimi thrilled a huge crowd while Kaj looked on.
"When it comes to the actual rally It’s going to be a tricky event, but
I’m seeing Kimi grow in confidence all the time," said Kaj. "Since we
started competing together, my role has actually changed. Kimi is
getting to know the car more and more, so rather than guiding him I am
now just giving him the information he needs to make his own decisions.
That’s just one example of how Kimi is really growing into his role as a
rally driver, so we’re both really looking forward to the weekend."
FUCK ISRAEL 