The split times from the fourth stage of Rally Bulgaria have shown
that Kimi Raikkonen was ahead of Sebastien Loeb for the first two
sectors of the 17-mile Belken Lake test.
Raikkonen was enjoying his most competitive stage of his World Rally
Championship career before he rolled off the road not far from the end
of the test.
At the first split, just under a mile from the start, the Citroen
Junior Team driver was a tenth of a second faster, but in the next four
miles he pulled a further three tenths out of the six-time World Rally
champion.
Raikkonen then dropped time to Loeb, but was still only five seconds
behind him when he went off the road. Had he finished the stage,
Raikkonen would likely have halved the gap between his time and Loeb’s
fastest time.
Citroen Junior Team principal Benoit Nogier said: "We’ve been very
pleased with the pace we have seen from Kimi today. And in this stage in
particular, he was going really well."
Raikkonen’s Citroen is currently on its way back to the service park
on the back of a recovery truck, but following an initial inspection
from Citroen technicians it is thought unlikely he will return for the
second day of competition. Confirmation of whether he restarts is
expected later this evening.
Raikkonen on course to rejoin Rally Bulgaria
From MaxRally.com
The Citroen Junior Team faces a race against time
to re-prepare Kimi Raikkonen’s car for day two of the Rally Bulgaria.
The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion went off on a slow corner of the
fourth and final stage of the day, while running fourth. His Citroen C4
WRC landed on its roof, and was eventually recovered to service.
While the damage appeared extensive, the Citroen Junior Team was given
permission to attempt to fix it so that Raikkonen can re-start tomorrow.
However, the team only has three hours to repair the C4 WRC to the
satisfaction of the scrutineers before it enters parc ferme.
Raikkonen commented: “It was a pity we went off but this can happen when
you’re trying. I really hope that the team can fix the car and that we
can be back again tomorrow, as we need the experience. Hopefully we can
keep on pushing and set some quick times.”
Despite the complexity of the task ahead of them, the Citroen Junior
Team is confident that they should complete the repairs on schedule,
enabling Raikkonen to start tomorrow just outside of the top 20.
FUCK ISRAEL 