Sources: RallyBuzz.com | Autosport.com
Red Bull driver Kimi Raikkonen has enjoyed a successful
two-day test close to Jyvaskyla, a week before starting his first Rally
Finland at the wheel of the Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC.
Kimi took part in the Rally Finland last year – but he was driving a
less powerful Super 2000 car. This time, he will take the start in a car
similar to the one that won the Rally Finland last year in the hands of
Sebastien Loeb. After running consistently within the top three of his
class last year, Kimi faces a much bigger challenge in 2010 thanks to
the extra speed of the Citroen C4 WRC.
The 2007 Formula One World Champion tried out two different roads
during the test, in order to experience the range of conditions that he
will find when the rally begins in just over a week’s time. Weather
conditions were cool and cloudy on Tuesday, but much warmer on
Wednesday.
He tested all the parameters needed for success on Rally Finland: in
particular suspension and damper settings, which are vital for ensuring
that the car flies accurately over the huge rollercoaster crests that
Rally Finland is famous for.
Kimi said: "The test went really well, and it was great for us to
have this experience before starting Rally Finland. Of course it helps a
bit that I have done the rally last year, but the World Rally Car is
such a step up from the Super 2000 car that it is like driving a
completely different rally. We tested everything that we wanted to, and
it was also useful to have the experience of preparing pace notes on
these fast and technical roads. I’m really looking forward to Rally
Finland: as a Grand Prix driver I never really got the chance to compete
in the top class at home before, so I think that it’s going to be a lot
of fun. We made a few adjustments to the car during the test but
nothing major: I think we are in a good position to start the rally
now."
His experienced co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, who has competed on the
Rally Finland 10 times, is also looking forward to the eighth round of
this year’s World Rally Championship. "I have been lucky enough to have
had some great memories of competing on the Rally Finland, but I’m sure
that this is going to be a very special one too," he said. "It’s always a
huge pleasure for me and for Kimi to drive in front of our home crowd,
and we hope that we can give everybody something to remember. The
pre-event test went very well and we have a good feeling with the car
and the pace notes. But of course the real action starts a week on
Friday!"
Kimi and Kaj will now have a few days off before the recce for the
Rally Finland gets underway on Tuesday 27 July. The rally starts in the
evening of Thursday 29 July and finishes on Saturday 31 July: an
innovation for the 60th anniversary of the event.
Kimi prepares for his return to Finland
They say practice makes perfect, whether it’s tightrope walking or
Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto. So it follows that the same is true
in rallying: particularly if you happen to be a beginner like a certain
Kimi Matias Räikkönen.
Over the years, Kimi’s proved that he’s game for most things, such as
dressing up in a gorilla suit and calling himself James Hunt. He’s that
increasingly rare animal: a racing driver with a life.
But one thing he’s not had that much practice of yet is rallying. Next
weekend Kimi takes on what will be only his seventh World Championship
Rally at the wheel of his Red Bull-backed Citroen C4 WRC, but it’s
possibly his biggest one yet: Rally Finland.
Known as the ‘Finnish Grand Prix’ and famous for its trampoline-like
crests that launch cars into the air for up to 100 metres, Rally Finland
is the Monaco of the World Rally Championship; the one that all the
drivers want to win.
Particularly, if like Kimi, they happen to be Finnish and blessed with
the trenchant quality of sisu: that untranslatable Finnish word that
means something between fire in the belly and strength in the face of
adversity.
We caught up with Kimi as he tested for two days close to Jyvaskyla this
week: the base for the Rally Finland from July 29-31. He comes to it
with an important ace up his Nomex sleeve: of all the rallies this year,
Finland is the only one he’s done before.
But as the Iceman explains, the circumstances are somewhat different…
Redbull.com: You’ve already done Rally Finland last year. Is that going to help?
Kimi Raikkonen: “It helps a bit, for sure. But last year I did it in a
Fiat Punto Super 2000, which is quite a lot slower than the Citroen C4
WRC that I have now. It’s almost like driving a different rally. The
speed is so much faster in the Citroen that we will have to make a
completely new set of pace notes. And then I didn’t finish the rally
last year because unfortunately we went off. So while some things are
going to be a bit familiar, other things are going to be very different
as well.”
RB: What were you testing in Finland this week?
KR: “Everything basically. That’s the thing for me this year: because
every event is new to us, we’re starting from scratch with the set-up
every time. I really don’t know what to expect. For example, our last
rally was Bulgaria. I hadn’t even set foot in the country before we
started the recce there. But in Finland it’s very fast, with lots of big
jumps. So the main thing we are concentrating on there is getting the
suspension and dampers right. Like all these things it is a compromise.
You need to make the car stiff enough to cope with all the crests but
soft enough to get good traction. That’s why we go testing.”
RB: Do you feel a lot of extra pressure at home?
KR: “Not really. I’ve been used to pressure in Formula One and in
rallying there’s a little less pressure, because the atmosphere is more
relaxed generally and also because it’s unrealistic for people to expect
us to win in our first year. Even a podium would be a lot. Being at
home means that there are even more crowds and people wanting autographs
than usual but I’m certainly used to that as well. The way I look at it
is that it is nice to get to drive at the top in my home country:
that’s an opportunity that I never had in Formula One.”
RB: How difficult is it to cope with challenging for a win at every
Grand Prix to just trying to score points on every rally now?
KR: “These things are only difficult if you are disappointed by your
results and I’m not disappointed. I came into this year with my eyes
open and no real expectations apart from the fact that it would be
difficult to switch. And I was certainly right about that. Don’t forget
that I had options in Formula One and I still have them: this is what I
chose for myself. So it’s not a problem.”
RB: Finally the killer question: are you going back to Formula One?
KR: “Good question. I’ve never been asked that before. Seriously? OK, I’ll tell you: I don’t know.”
And some people say that Finns have no sense of humour…!
FUCK ISRAEL 