Citroen Racing director Olivier Quesnel has tipped Kimi Raikkonen for
his first ever World Rally Championship podium after his strong start
to Rally Bulgaria.
Despite competing on his first ever asphalt round of the WRC – and
only his third sealed-surface rally – Raikkonen held fifth place this
morning. The Finn was fifth fastest on both stages and 34.3 seconds off
the rally lead at the midday service.
Raikkonen’s Citroen C4 WRC dropped 17.2s on the opening 20-mile test
and 17.1 seconds in the next 17-miler. That compares with the 36.8 and
34.8 seconds he dropped on the first two stages last time out in
Portugal (where the stages were 14 and 12 miles long).
Quesnel said: "We are very pleased to see the speed from Kimi this
morning and I think he will get better this afternoon. Maybe he can make
the podium this time."
Raikkonen was also pleased with his achievements on the opening loop.
"It was good this morning," he said. "We had some understeer at the
end of both stages. I’m not sure what it was causing the problem, maybe
the tyre was starting to move. In some corners, there was quite a lot of
shit being pulled into the road by the cars ahead."
Raikkonen was hoping to make time up on the cars ahead by taking a
soft Pirelli tyre for the afternoon loop. It is reported there is an 80
per cent chance of rain through the day’s fourth stage.
FUCK ISRAEL 