Kimi starts his rally career

[Langdale Forest]

After watching that video, I think that he could win a few rallies this year.

[Tomi]

Actually I think this was his second time with WRC, he was in France week or two ago testing there with C4 WRC.

yes you are right, i was not sure it was a test, i tought it was only to make pictures

[Boudica]

Some more pictures:

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs154.snc3/18169_279734298088_38712918088_3338324_6314762_n.j pg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs154.snc3/18169_279734318088_38712918088_3338325_2977526_n.j pg
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs154.snc3/18169_279734333088_38712918088_3338326_1854541_n.j pg
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs134.snc3/18169_279734293088_38712918088_3338323_5258808_n.j pg
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs134.snc3/18169_279734278088_38712918088_3338322_864909_n.jp g

[RS]

In my opinion, Kimi will put in a very good and surprising showing in Sweden but then may be a bit more low key for the events following that.

[Boudica]

http://www.redbull.com/cs/RedBull/RBImages/000/000/343/983/photo960x540/220110RY03.jpg
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8421/210110ry036577006.jpg
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/4269/210110ry046613599.jpg
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/9324/210110ry016634647.jpg

[Sulland]

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/image_browse.php?id=7525

This lighter blue livery looks so much better, somebody should whisper in kimis ear !

[Woodeye]

More pics.

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/urheilu/uutinen.asp?id=1888907&pos=hl-vi-3

[White Sauron]

After watching that video, I think that he could win a few rallies this year.

Judging by what? A 5-sec video of flat-out driving over a single crest? Then I must say that Ken Block's videos make me think he's the greatest driver ever, cause I've never heard of Mikko or Seb doing such stunts.

[Rallyper]

Judging by what? A 5-sec video of flat-out driving over a single crest? Then I must say that Ken Block's videos make me think he's the greatest driver ever, cause I've never heard of Mikko or Seb doing such stunts.

You have a point there! :)

But never the less being in rallying since beginning of 60´s judging vids an pictures can tell you a lot of a driver. But still we have to wait and see... ;)

[Daniel]

Judging by what? A 5-sec video of flat-out driving over a single crest? Then I must say that Ken Block's videos make me think he's the greatest driver ever, cause I've never heard of Mikko or Seb doing such stunts.
So true Frodo :up:

[Langdale Forest]

I've never heard of Mikko or Seb doing such stunts.

The best rally/stunt driver (at the same time), is Evgeny Novikov.

[Miika]

More of Kimi in action:

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2S52zABPnw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2S52zABPnw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

[Daniel]

More of Kimi in action:

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2S52zABPnw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2S52zABPnw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
What's with the **** camera placement? Does this person have a fear of corners or something?

[Langdale Forest]

+1

[Woodeye]

He seems to be airborne quite a lot. :)

[Tomi]

He seems to be airborne quite a lot. :)

Yes, maybe Kaitsu should teach him how to tie the car to the road ;)

[MartijnS]

The sound of the rev limiter? when he's flying is awesome :D

[N.O.T]

still has a lot to learn....the man in the camera was quite educated and smart and he only shot straight lines with jumps i bet rautenbach would be fast there as well....the only corner he showed kimi was too much off the throttle...

the publicity tricks stop in a few weeks unfortunatelly...

[pettersolberg29]

So you hate Kimi as well eh N.O.T ;)

Petter, Kimi, anyone else?

[N.O.T]

Block, wilson, rautenbach....

[Langdale Forest]

me?

[dimviii]

me?
This one needs its OWN thread :D

[Langdale Forest]

That was ment as a joke, because N.O.T seems to dislike alot of drivers, I wonderd if he did not like me.

[pettersolberg29]

Block, wilson, rautenbach....

Those 3 are acceptable though - they're only there because of rich parents and have little talent among the top echelons of rallying.

Petter and Kimi are well respected drivers - previous Champions in the two hardest sports in the world.

[Langdale Forest]

Theya re respected drivers but N.O.T does not respect them .

[Boudica]

Some more pictures:

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/image_browse.php?id=42704

[tmx]

Those 3 are acceptable though - they're only there because of rich parents and have little talent among the top echelons of rallying.
I thought we already went it over about Block over at another thread. So you should mean only two of those drivers.

Please not let every single threads turn into crap.

[Daniel]

I thought we already went it over about Block over at another thread. So you should mean only two of those drivers.

Stop polluting every discussions, I was enjoying this thread.
NOT didn't bring it up.........

[Langdale Forest]

I did not mention block.

[White Sauron]

he needs to learn to work with the throttle. He tends to land a-la Novikov - on the back wheels of his car, which is neither effective nor safe... (though spectacular).

[Daniel]

he needs to learn to work with the throttle. He tends to land a-la Novikov - on the back wheels of his car, which is neither effective nor safe... (though spectacular).
Good point again Frodo :)

[DonJippo]

he needs to learn to work with the throttle. He tends to land a-la Novikov - on the back wheels of his car, which is neither effective nor safe... (though spectacular).

Actually it is brake he needs to work with but never the less C4 seems to have a habit to fly nose high, maybe the rear wing is the cause for this?

[Koppomsbo]

Actually it is brake he needs to work with but never the less C4 seems to have a habit to fly nose high, maybe the rear wing is the cause for this?

Or all the bottles of fine french red wine they bring :D

[Raini]

Actually it is brake he needs to work with but never the less C4 seems to have a habit to fly nose high, maybe the rear wing is the cause for this?

Yes, braking is the key, before the car gets light on the crest, you should brake to pull the car down, in order to minimize the time being in the air.
Timing of the braking is the key, and it is very difficult to get the right moment.
Also it helps to keep the nose of the car down. Loeb and Sordo is knowing this techique very well, theirs car is very straight on crests, and even more nose down on the crest.

[Rallyper]

Yes, braking is the key, before the car gets light on the crest, you should brake to pull the car down, in order to minimize the time being in the air.
Timing of the braking is the key, and it is very difficult to get the right moment.
Also it helps to keep the nose of the car down. Loeb and Sordo is knowing this techique very well, theirs car is very straight on crests, and even more nose down on the crest.

If Mikko had kept nose up in GB he´d maybe have catched Loeb on the penultimate stage... :)

[6789]

I do love the paint job on Kimi's car, but one has to wonder how long until all of the red bull logo's are upside down?

[Julle69]

And here is the latest video from Kimi's winter test in Finland. There is little bit more driving than just jumps...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF3DkqWxLxo

[N.O.T]

2:26-2:36

Insane rally skills....

[MartijnS]

lol I knew you were gonna say something about that part :D

[pettersolberg29]

It looks OK but a bit slow on the corners. I'm not an expert but he seems to brake more than other drivers I've seen in tests.

[JRodrigues]

It looks OK but a bit slow on the corners. I'm not an expert but he seems to brake more than other drivers I've seen in tests.

Well, I would say it's just because this is going to be his first full WRC year and the first times driving a WRC-Car. But hey... that's just me.

[Julle69]

Next weekend Kimi will be driving his first rally with WRC car in Arctic Lappland Rally. Sordo is driving there too, so next Sunday we will know what is Kimi's pace compared to top with same car.

[pucky54]

"same car" ;)

[Tomi]

"same car" ;)

you seem to have some info, what are the differences in the cars, just of curiosity?

[N.O.T]

the gearbox is 4kg lighter and 1 million more expensive....

[Tomi]

That the gearbox would cost 1 million i dont buy, the whole car maybe, but it would be nice to know the differences.

[Boudica]

Next weekend Kimi will be driving his first rally with WRC car in Arctic Lappland Rally. Sordo is driving there too, so next Sunday we will know what is Kimi's pace compared to top with same car.

You this weekend? :)

[Boudica]

An interview with Kimi: (using google translator)

Raikkonen: "I had never driven an F1 car at -25 ° C!"

Present in Finland to prepare for the 2010 season, Kimi Räikkönen has participated in his first test at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC Junior Team.

You start your first season in rallying. Are you discovering a different appearance in WRC compared to F1?
"These are totally different disciplines. Here it is -25 ° C during testing. I had never driven an F1 car at -25 ° C! In the F1 practice sessions, we loop the same lap all the time. In rally, even if we stay on the same stretch of road conditions change with each pass. There was more or less snow. "

What do you like in the rally?
"I like everything! This is a new challenge for me. This is the biggest challenge of my racing career. It's very exciting ... "

What do you expect from your first test?
"I started in rallying. We'll see where we are located in front of drivers who have had several years of experience in the discipline. Initially, the objective will be to complete the rallies. We must learn the car before we can attack a little more. "

In what area do you feel most comfortable?
"I rolled on all surfaces last season. Perhaps the snow as I drove in testing and racing. So I have more experience in this field. But I guess I may have good marks on asphalt. This is the area that I'am most familiar with. "

For a beginner in the rally, the system marks an important job demands. Is this something that you've progressed in?
"We'll use the same system as last year. It worked very well. With experience, we will continue to improve and we'll see how it works during the first tests. "

What are your ambitions at the start of the Arctic Rally?
"It was my first rally last season. This participation is a good workout. I'll be able to travel miles with the car before the first race of the World Championship. It's also nice to ride in Finland. "

[Boudica]

THEY AREN'T YET AFRAID OF KIMI AT FORD

Turun Sanomat 26.1 2010 23:01:28

F1-Champion Kimi Räikkönen will now also drive against Ford's Finns in Citroen's camp.

On Tuesday's press conference Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala were grateful for the publicity Kimi Räikkönen has brought to rally but assured also that they aren't yet afraid of him challenging for the top positions.

– I'm sure Kimi will seriously try and get as good results as possible. Maybe by the time of Portugal when he has a couple of rallies behind him and he has got used to pacenotes, maybe then we can start waiting for some results. I don't believe that Kimi will challenge for the victories during the season. It will be interesting to see how he settles in to this genre, Hirvonen thinks.

– It's a great thing that Kimi is in the serie. I don't know him at all but I guess we will get to know each other during the season even though we don't drive in the same team. I will take my hat off also to the thing that a track-man has interest to change into rally, Latvala said.

– I'm sure that Kimi drives fast. He is a talented guy and I'm sure we will see some good moves from him. But because Kimi doesn't have any experience other than from one WRC-rally I don't believe that he will form a threat to the lead. I guess Kimi will be in a position from 5-8 when the season ends, if he is among five it's a top performance. The year after that he might well be in the top 3, Latvala thinks.

Turun Sanomat, Helsinki

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Leon]

Boudica, I really appreciate all the info and translations you post. thanks a lot

[Langdale Forest]

the gearbox is 4kg lighter and 1 million more expensive....


How could a gearbox cost a million pounds anyway?

[WRCfan]

How could a gearbox cost a million pounds anyway?

Did you really post that in a serious frame of mind or are you taking the pi$$?

[Langdale Forest]

N.O.T's posts can be a vauge and confusing, the one that I quoted a classic example.

[WRCfan]

The WRC gearboxes do not cost that much.

You can buy 4 2007 complete Subaru WRC cars for that.... :)

[Daniel]

THEY AREN'T YET AFRAID OF KIMI AT FORD

Turun Sanomat 26.1 2010 23:01:28

F1-Champion Kimi Räikkönen will now also drive against Ford's Finns in Citroen's camp.

On Tuesday's press conference Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala were grateful for the publicity Kimi Räikkönen has brought to rally but assured also that they aren't yet afraid of him challenging for the top positions.

– I'm sure Kimi will seriously try and get as good results as possible. Maybe by the time of Portugal when he has a couple of rallies behind him and he has got used to pacenotes, maybe then we can start waiting for some results. I don't believe that Kimi will challenge for the victories during the season. It will be interesting to see how he settles in to this genre, Hirvonen thinks.

– It's a great thing that Kimi is in the serie. I don't know him at all but I guess we will get to know each other during the season even though we don't drive in the same team. I will take my hat off also to the thing that a track-man has interest to change into rally, Latvala said.

– I'm sure that Kimi drives fast. He is a talented guy and I'm sure we will see some good moves from him. But because Kimi doesn't have any experience other than from one WRC-rally I don't believe that he will form a threat to the lead. I guess Kimi will be in a position from 5-8 when the season ends, if he is among five it's a top performance. The year after that he might well be in the top 3, Latvala thinks.

Turun Sanomat, Helsinki

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)
I think Latvala will be ****ing himself, yet another person to finish in front of him when he puts it off the road :)

[Viking]

How could a gearbox cost a million pounds anyway?

One million euro! :) It was just Citroen`s way of saying no to Petter, look we can start up the production and produce a few more (you need more than one gearbox over a season) if you pay a ridiculous amount of money…

[Tomi]

look we can start up the production and produce a few more (you need more than one gearbox over a season) if you pay a ridiculous amount of money…
Is this a what he was told really, or just guessing?

[6789]

Petter may have meant an extra 1 million Euros for the whole season?

[Tomi]

Anyway 4kg sounds like very little, except if the idea behind it is to move the polarisation more optimal.

[Viking]

Is this a what he was told really, or just guessing?

I guess they did not say “ridiculous” ;) , no just guessing, what he said in the intervju from Finnskogvalsen was “ I could have got it if I paid 8 mill Nok (close to 1 mill euro) more.

[N.O.T]

How could a gearbox cost a million pounds anyway?

ask peter solberg about all the info

[cali]

ask peter solberg about all the info

Who is Peter Solberg??

[Rallyper]

the gearbox is 4kg lighter and 1 million more expensive....

:D

[JFL]

it's just another way of saying, that they won't sell it... Give it a rest...

[Boudica]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxbF1oOqMfE

[Rallyper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxbF1oOqMfE

As someone commented "he looks very happy" and that is really true. :)

[Langdale Forest]

Who is Peter Solberg??

Everyone who posts on this forum should know him. :rolleyes:

[JRodrigues]

another video from his website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PF7q74QVTo&feature=sub

[pettersolberg29]

LF - read cali's post carefully, then compare it to my username! It's a common error and one that is very annoying.

[cali]

Everyone who posts on this forum should know him. :rolleyes:

Sorry, never heard of him, but I do know certain norwegian rallydriver Petter Solberg. Is this maybe the same person? :rolleyes:

[cali]

LF - read cali's post carefully, then compare it to my username! It's a common error and one that is very annoying.

Exactly!

[Iskald]

Sorry, never heard of him, but I do know certain norwegian rallydriver Petter Solberg. Is this maybe the same person? :rolleyes:

Could be, or maybe not. I have also wondered who Mikko Hirvenon is. Kimmo Rikkonen is possibly a former racing driver, I`ve been told... ;)

[cali]

Could be, or maybe not. I have also wondered who Mikko Hirvenon is. Kimmo Rikkonen is possibly a former racing driver, I`ve been told... ;)

:p

[Langdale Forest]

I though cali was trying to make a joke, but I realise that is you mess up with the spellings, you change the meanings. ;)

Siebastin Looob

[Boudica]

Kimi's column - IT STARTS FROM TUNTURI (ARCTIC)

I have been waiting for this ever since I made the contract for a season in rally. I feel exactly the same as I did before the first race in F1. I have this nice itch in my belly and my feelings are the greatest in the right way.

It's always cool for a racer to go to new challenges. What's more greater than have a whole new season as a completely new challenge?

Citroen has fit my glove ever since the beginning. We drove tests for three days, the whole time we learned more about the car and it's great that when we change it it reacts just the way we hoped it would. I feel all the time that the direction is right and the engineers have said the same in meetings.

We chose Arctic rally for the first race. In our program it's just a test-race that serves only the preparing for Sweden where the serie starts. It's cool that the races start this soon. After I tried the car for the first time in France I haven't been able to wait for the day when I get to race with it.

The break was quickly over. I spent it just like I did during my F1-time. I had a vacation, spent some time with family and friends and started training after that. I have trained just like before. I've done some tough training with Mark Arnall. We know that driving rally will be quite a beating and it gets really hot once in a while. You have to be in a good shape.

I have always said that you shouldn't make any astonishing conclusions before the first race. Now it's even more true. I feel like I would be a Finnish pioneer who went to conquer America. I don't know at all how things will go. The only thing I can promise you is that I will do my best and I won't give up at any point.

In the beginning it's more of building the trust because all races in the serie are in new places and I have to learn to trust the notes. It means a lot to me that Kaj Lindström is my co-driver. We are in a good sync. He is the best possible man for the job and without him I doubt I would have even gone into this project.

During the weekend we drove tests in Mid-Finland and they went well. The car works as a clock. You can see that it has been strong and reliable. Just like it has to be when it has won so many races and championships.

It's for sure that all other F1-drivers would like to drive a rally-car - or at least try it. I already know what it feels like.

Now we go to Tunturi and make pace notes on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will get a feeling from the snow and make sure that everything works in cold conditions. The shakedown is on Thursday and on Friday we start pushing the race.

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[TMorel]

Ok, I've noticed lots of "translation thanks to"... so he's obviously doing a lot of interviews in his native tongue.
Was Kimi always been this "talkative" during the F1 days and it's just failed to be translated onto mainstream or did I miss it all?
I swear I've seen more from him in the last two months than I have in his entire F1 career and he seems really positive and passionate - nothing like the guy who is getting described over in the F1 forum threads.

[Boudica]

Ok, I've noticed lots of "translation thanks to"... so he's obviously doing a lot of interviews in his native tongue.
Was Kimi always been this "talkative" during the F1 days and it's just failed to be translated onto mainstream or did I miss it all?
I swear I've seen more from him in the last two months than I have in his entire F1 career and he seems really positive and passionate - nothing like the guy who is getting described over in the F1 forum threads.

There has always been relatively lots of stuff about Kimi in the last three years or so, there is practically articles about Kimi every single day, especially in the Finnish press.

But I do think that there is currently a much more intensive focus on Kimi. And the other thing that also has an impact is the difference in reporting from the Finnish, British and Italian press. Kimi is much more open and talkative to the Finnish press, it is properly only natural as he can obviously express himself better in his native tongue. This is also why some Finnish fans have decided to translate all the articles about Kimi for the rest of the fans, to give us a better perspective of the "real" Kimi.

But I also think Kimi will be much more relaxed and open this year, the rally environment seems to be more relaxed in general. Whereas in F1 you have to count all your words, and journalist are often looking for just that one sentence to manipulate.

[Koppomsbo]

.

But I also think Kimi will be much more relaxed and open this year, the rally environment seems to be more relaxed in general. Whereas in F1 you have to count all your words, and journalist are often looking for just that one sentence to manipulate.

I think this is spot on, in F1 its so much politics so u have to watch yourself all time. Ok, there is in WRC also but not at all in the same level.

[Tomi]

Kimi is much more open and talkative to the Finnish press, it is properly only natural as he can obviously express himself better in his native tongue.
But I also think Kimi will be much more relaxed and open this year, the rally environment seems to be more relaxed in general.

This is offcourse true, but still about 80% of the stuff they write has nothing much to do with his driving, its more kind of ladies magazine stuff. Today they did wrote that he going to buy a ice hockey team, lol.
Being F1 champion and WRC champion is very very different thing.
I still think Kaj Lindsröm will give the most of the interviews during the rallies, or Anette might get something out from Kimi too, after all they did compete against each other in the past.

[Motorsportfun]

Kimi's website is extremely developed, compared to all the other WRC drivers. WRC drivers, in terms of marketing, needs to learn lots of things.

[Daniel]

Kimi's website is extremely developed, compared to all the other WRC drivers. WRC drivers, in terms of marketing, needs to learn lots of things.
I don't get all the fuss over driver sites. I can honestly say the first and last time I visited one was Colin's site to sign the condolences list...

[Boudica]

This is offcourse true, but still about 80% of the stuff they write has nothing much to do with his driving, its more kind of ladies magazine stuff. Today they did wrote that he going to buy a ice hockey team, lol.
Being F1 champion and WRC champion is very very different thing.
I still think Kaj Lindsröm will give the most of the interviews during the rallies, or Anette might get something out from Kimi too, after all they did compete against each other in the past.

Lol Ladies magazines

But there is perhaps a valid reason for that, most of Kimi's fans are female. :)

Kimi generally tends to give better interviews when he is being interviewed by female reporters, But he and Anette goes back a long way I am sure she will get a few words out of him, she did write once that Kimi broke some of her toes during a karting incident.

[RS]

This was probably the most insightful interview that I saw Kimi give during his F1 years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U386HsT-NaA

Other than that it was usually "I think so it's ok and for sure we will see what we can do"

I think Red Bull and WRC will provide Kimi with a much less corporate atmosphere than McLaren F1 for example though.

[tmx]

Kimi's website is extremely developed, compared to all the other WRC drivers. WRC drivers, in terms of marketing, needs to learn lots of things. It is entirely flash which is terrible. Bad for slow connection and doesn't work for mobile browsers. Atleast Petter site have a choice between flash and html.

[JFL]

It is entirely flash which is terrible. Bad for slow connection and doesn't work for mobile browsers. Atleast Petter site have a choice between flash and html.
I think its only HTML at the moment... Maybe a new site is in the works..??

[Boudica]

SORDO WILL SHOW THE WRC-PACE TO KIMI

Turun Sanomat 28.1 2010 17:42:18

Tunturi-ralli's – or more EU-wise Arctic Lapland Rally – feelings are more higher than usual at the eve of the rally. Daniel Sordo and Kimi Räikkönen will participate in the traditional national rally as outsiders and attract a huge international interest.

– The world will go crazy over this, rally-boss Heikki Poranen sums it up.

Wednesday's snow storm put all the organisers against the wall. Yet Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström managed to finish their note work.

Just like last year all possible accomodation was sold out already in the beginning of December. Last year there were over 10 000 spectators.

Räikkönen's first official rally as a rally driver is something that interests all motorsport-quarters.

Räikkönen and Lindström had a chance to test Citroen's C4 WRC-cannon for three days and they drove all and all about 400 km.

– Of course there aren't too many tests for Kimi at this point of his career. We got a positive feeling about them. We learned a lot about the car and saw how the setups work. We got it so that it fit Kimi's hand and that was the main thing, Lindström said.

Räikkönen started with Sebastien Loeb's basic setups for Norway's rally in 2008 and he took it from there to the direction he wanted.

– Tunturi-rally is only a test for Sweden. The reason why we wanted to go to Tunturi was that we could test how much more we can perform with this car compared to last year's Fiat in the same place, Lindström told.

F1- and rally-tests have a different way of thinking

– The tests were always good in rally but the race itself will educate you in a completely different way. The way we think in rally is completely different from the way they think in F1. In F1 you learn by testing and practising the track's every single corner in a certain way. In rally you have to look for a compromise in testing so that it will work properly in different places and conditions.

Driving with Sordo will offer Räikkönen a challenging comparison.

– Sordo's pace will show the speed you have in WRC. Dani is usually 3rd when two guys are going even faster. It's important for us to get driving experience. In rally we climb up these stairs slowly but when we put our helmets on we will always do our best.

That guy sure knows how to drive

Lindström knows best what kind of a steering wheel -man Räikkönen is in a rally car.

– That guy sure knows how to drive a car. When you have drove F1 with the powers Kimi has, these WRC-cars' 350 horsepowers aren't from a that different world. That won't be a problem. But when you can't remember every place in rally you have to make pace notes and drive according to them.

So first Kimi has to

a) learn
b) understand
c) drive according to the notes.

– Kimi will do it well but he still has to find that 100% trust before the job works completely, Lindström summed up.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

COMMENT FROM ARCTIC-RALLY: KIMI's HUGE ATTRACTION
28.01.2010 21:55

http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/ralli/2010/873579.jpg

Arctic Lapland -rally has this year more media-people than ever before.

The rally has 176 accredited representers of the media. The figure is three-doubled compared to the normal Arctic-rally years. 41 reporters and photographers have arrived from abroad, from nine different countries.

Arctic-rally was prepared to receive 50 photographers but there would have been 80 willing to come.

When I arrived to the press center they were astonished over the fact that they were running out of the passes for reporters.

The reason for all this is of course that the F1-WDC Kimi Räikkönen will drive his dress rehearsal for the WRC-season.

Today Kimi was in a good mood in the press meeting his employer Red Bull had arranged - and he most certainly was not silent so the reporters will have enough to write about the Iceman's actions in Rovaniemi.
MTV3 – Jani Merimaa

RÄIKKÖNEN: NO IDEA OF THE PACE

28.01.2010 20:40
http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/ralli/2010/873552.jpg

Kimi Räikkönen can't predict at all how he will do in this season's races in Citroen's WRC-car.

- Because I have absolutely no idea of what my pace is compared to the others it's quite difficult to go and guess anything, Räikkönen said to MTV3.

- I feel a bit excited. I haven't raced one kilometer with this car so far. Only a few tests but it's hard to tell anything because I don't know what to compare it to. When you drive at one road it's not difficult. But when we go to the stages and you have to drive flat out immediately, that's going to be difficult, Kimi admits.

- Let's just try to get some good rallies and improve the pace as soon as it's possible. I have so much to learn that it's useless to do something incredibly stupid at first. Maybe it's easier to tell after a few rallies. Then we see where we go and if I can improve the pace at some point, Kimi said.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi
(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

KIMI TOLD HOW HIS CONTRACT WAS BORN - BUT KEPT QUIET ABOUT THE CONTEXT

28.01.2010 22:38

MTV3 asked Kimi why he hasn't got a contract with Citroen?

- Because I have a contract with Red Bull, Kimi replied.

- It wasn't really a difficult decision to go to WRC. We thought about it for a little time. I had other options but this was my own decision. It was the right time and the best option for me myself. I have always wanted to try rally and it's the last year with WRC-cars.

- I wouldn't go to drive if I wouldn't be interested in these jobs. I would have quit ages ago if I wouldn't want to drive. Nobody is forcing me to do it. And I don't have to drive if I don't want to. Always when I drive I do my best and go as fast as I can.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi
(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

DRIVING RALLY REPLACES KIMI's WILL TO WIN

Turun Sanomat 28.1 2010 22:52:25

Kimi Räikkönen's debut with Red Bull-Citroen's WRC-car has attracted 170 media-people to Rovaniemi. As many as there were when Ferrari and McLaren presented their cars this week.

On Thursday night Räikkönen spent over an hour interviewed first by the tv- and after that by the press-people.

In F1 you said that you will always drive for victory? Is it possible this year in rally?

– No and that's for sure. There are pretty tough drivers out there and they have raced for many years the same rallies. They remember quite a lot from the stages and know what to do where. Like I said, you have to learn a lot before you get experience and can start improving your pace, Räikkönen knows.

So this new challenge with a WRC-car will replace his will to win this season.

What kind of expectations do you have from Sweden's rally?

– Everything is new to me so first of all I have to be patient. It's difficult to say what to expect when I haven't raced with this car. We'll see in Sweden how it goes. It's useless to say anything beforehand when there are so many things that can go wrong, Räikkönen said.

Sordo can't afford to lose

On Thursday Räikkönen got some comparison to Daniel Sordo's times when the duo drove the same stages with the same cars.

– Tunturi-rally is just a practice for Sweden. It's difficult to say how it goes here either. I have so much to learn in many things so the result doesn't mean anything to me in this race. You will see our pace in Sweden.

Sordo has drove in even colder conditions in Norways. Tunturi is his 6th snow rally. How badly will it hurt if the 3rd overall in WRC would lose to Räikkönen right from the beginning?

– Kimi is undoubtly fast but we try to go faster. If Kimi is faster it's not a good thing for me, Sordo thought.

There will be enough testing

Räikkönen had time to test for three days with Citroen before the races start. If there is need for it, can you test as much as you want?

– Of course there are some limitations. It depends on so many things, what kind of contracts who has and who pays what. I'm not even sure what the regulations say but I think you can test pretty freely in WRC. Other teams test, others don't, Räikkönen said.

Räikkönen denied many times the claims that he wouldn't have been motivated in F1-tests.

– Everyone can have their own view even if I wouldn't even know about the whole thing. The truth is that I have never had anything against any test where you try new parts and new things. It's a different thing if you just drive 600 km per day just to try and see if the car can take it without breaking.
(Translation courtesy of Nicole)

[Boudica]

Brothers as competitors

Big brother Rami Räikkönen will drive in Tunturi in Kimi's old car Fiat Abarth Grande Punto. Now the brothers compete on rally paths for the first time.

– It's still my car but when Rami wanted to try rally and has been doing it for a longer time as a hobby I thought why not?

Own pace notes to polish

So at what stage will the widely discussed Räikkönen's practice to make pace notes take place? How much do you trust the notes Kaj Lindström gives you?

– I trust in them because I have made them myself. There are many things. Of course I trust what Kaitsu says when I have made them myself and he has so much experience that if I would have made them totally senseless, he would have mentioned about it already when we made them. There won't be that kind of a mistake. It's more about the driver listening properly to the notes so that he doesn't make an error because of not listening.

– There is a lot to learn so that you can make good notes in a good place and precisely understand how fast you can drive there. Easily it goes so that if you can't describe it well enough it means that you can't drive as fast as you should.

A year in rally is not an obstacle for coming back to F1

Did you look at Ferrari's new F-10 -car from internet?

– I have seen the car. It's hard to say anything based upon pictures. I guess they will start testing it next week. You see it then. It looked a lot like it looked last year ago too. Nothing terribly different, Räikkönen summed up.

Do you still have a burn for a comeback to F1?

– I have no contract with anyone for year 2011. Of course a lot depends on what happens and where. I guess I have a long year ahead of me and you can never know what is going to happen.

Will this year be wasted if you decide to go back to F1?

– It's not wasted in any way. I always do my best. In the final games this was the best option of all options for this year. That's why I drive rally now.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA
(Translation courtesy of Nicole)

[Miika]

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[Boudica]

"Räikkönen and Lindström were more confused about the problems on car's functionality than the crash.

- It's difficult to drive. It behaved nothing like in the tests. That's why we went to Sordo's set up, Räikkönen said."

[Boudica]

Kimi Räikkönen’s rallying career in Citroen’s WRC-car didn’t start in a blinding way for the sportworld. 30-year-old former F1-champion crashed his Red Bull-patterned vehicle on Lapland-rally’s second special stage to a snowbank and a fir tree.

The victory-battle against WRC-third Dani Sordo that the Finnish rally-nation hoped for was over straight away.

The Spanish Citroen-driver took a 1-minute time-penalty before Räikkönen’s crash when he arrived too late to the departure area. The WRC-car is nevertheless so supreme compared to the N-group cars that Sordo, who dominated all special stages, easily put himself back on top and arranged a 1-minute lead to Juha Salo who is leading the SM-rally.

Räikkönen’s and Kaj Lindström’s damaged car was cranked back to the road and the pair could continue the race after the repair-team fixed the car. On the last special stage of the day Räikkönen did as eligible times compared to Sordo as on the opening stage.

Räikkönen is about second slower than Sordo per kilometer.

Already in the morning Räikkönen assured that he doesn’t care even if he was left last in the race as long as he can do the things what he needed to do for this testing race. After the opening day Kimi is over half an hour behind the top.

- It went to the bank when I listened the note badly. There was a tree as thick as a fist, which we went over. But it’s okay. That's why we came here, so that we could screw up everything that can be screwed up so that we don’t need to do the same mistakes again in Sweden when the season begins.

- I’m sure I could drive faster when I start to drive to the limit. This is nevertheless a test-race after all that we can learn all kinds of things. We can still destroy the car, Räikkönen said.

Räikkönen proved in practise right away what it means when you say that there is most to be learnt in making notes.
Räikkönen and Lindström were more confused about the problems on car's functionality than the crash.

- It's difficult to drive. It behaved nothing like in the tests.

That's why we went to Sordo's set up, Räikkönen said.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Leijona)

[Boudica]

Mark Arnall admits that the F1-regulations changed to Kimi's disadvantage last season.

- The driver's weight was important in F1 because of the KERS-drvice. We did a lot of work to make Kimi smaller because he was 2-3 kg overweight after KERS was put in. Some bigger drivers had even more difficulties, Arnall told MTV3.

In rally Räikkönen is weighed together with Kaitsu.

- The minimum weight is 150 kg. We are a little above it. We are more or less where we should be, Arnall said.

- Driving rally is more easier on Kimi because he doesn't have to put up with the same G-forces as in F1. The driving position is quite different so the muscles work in a different way. We will change the training according to which parts work more than before and which less, Arnall tells.

- In rally you sit in the car more than in F1 with pace notes and transitions. The rally car bumps the driver up and down more than a F1-car. That kind of bumping strains the lower back, Arnall continues.

Kaj also said in an interview that the Arctic rally race is a test race to Kimi and they will try different things during the race. It can influence to his speed.
He also says that Kimi is complaining about the car "this doesn't really go!" as he is used to F1 cars speed.

(Translation thanks to Appletree and Nicole)

[Boudica]

Kimi's manager: very, very different

- I must say that for me this is very, very different. F1 pit stop is completely different than here. This is of course not WRC-rally. I'm waiting to get to those races, Robertson said to MTV3.

Robertson highlight that Räikkönen could have continued in F1 if had wanted.

- Transferring to rally was Kimi's decision. We had opportunities to make a deal with a couple F1-teams after he quit at Ferrari but that didn't happen. Kimi made it very clear that if he doesn't get into a particular F1-team he wants to investigate other options. We got a good chance from Red Bull and Citroen in rally and Kimi announced that he wants to do it.

Räikkönen's next years series-decision is going to be affected by the experiences in rally in the beginning of the year and the the situation on free driver-places in F1.

- Kimi looks how things progress in WRC-rally until the middle of the season. Then we look what options there are open in F1. If he likes WRC-rally, then he will continue there. If he continues in WRC-rally series, is championship a long-term goal, Robertson says.

[Boudica]

Kimi Räikkönen's race engineer in Citroen's junior team, Cedric Mazenq, is gratefule for Kimi's very detailed feedback when it comes to setting up the rally car.

Räikkönen himself is used to setting up the car into every small detail in F1.

- He sees many details because he is used to doing a detailed work in F1. He can help the team to improve the car, Mazenq told MTV3 of the first impression he got about Räikkönen.

Citroen-team offered several different setups for the Arctic-rally that Räikkönen could try out so that the Iceman gets experience of what kind of setups are the best for him.

- This rally was a test for Kimi. It's a continuance of the test we drove in Jyväskylä last week. This rally's goal was to find the setups he could begin with in Sweden's rally, Mazenq emphasises in the Arctic-rally's service park.

Arctic-rally's purpose was to make a car for Kimi that he could drive as easily as possible.

- For him the most important thing in the beginning is that he learns to trust the car. This is a whole new world for him. We will do our best to help him learn about the car, routes and pace notes. There is a lot of differences between rally and F1 but he has taken this with an open mind, Mazenq tells.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

(Translation thanks to Leijona)

[Boudica]

Räikkönen: The pace will improve once the car is in order

Kimi Räikkönen assures that he will have a better pace in upcoming rallies once his WRC-car is setup the way he wants.

- The car isn't yet the way I want it to be. It's pretty difficult in some parts, Kimi told MTV3.

Räikkönen lost about 0,9 seconds per kilometer to Sordo who won the rally.

- Once we get the car the way we want it to be it's quite easy to go faster. I don't think that it will be terribly difficult to drive faster when I know myself that it's not going the way I want it to go.

- The car has had an OK pace when thinking that we haven't drove that much. If this is the 5th rally for me then it's really not something you should worry about. I learned quite a lot. It's easier to go to the next race. Of course driving out is never nice but they will always come. the main thing was that we got to drive and get some kilometers behind us. It doesn't matter that we got a bad position, Kimi said.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

[N.O.T]

the setup excuse is the most common one....a good start.

[Langdale Forest]

What was your excuse to say that, N.O.T?

[JFL]

It's nice to see that N.O.T is following his favourite drivers on his favourite threads..

[Langdale Forest]

I don't think he has any favourite drivers!

[DonJippo]

It's nice to see that N.O.T is following his favourite drivers on his favourite threads..

Yes I've been wondering the same thing, the amount of time and energy that he uses in those threads is amazing. He has to be a top poster on these sponsor kid clowns threads, at least he ensures these threads stay top on the first page :up:

[Langdale Forest]

He is a skillfull poster in a strange way.

He is brilliant at saying everyone is an excuse.

[Simmi]

Langdale why are you commenting on other posters? Do you think you are in a position to criticise anyone? Compared to you N.O.T is a great poster.

[Langdale Forest]

But I have never said anything bad about Petter Solberg, and I hope he does well this year.

[Boudica]

Anette Latva-Piikkilä: Racegirl's blog

ICEMAN = NICEMAN

If Kimi hadn't slipped yesterday during SS2 he would have been 2nd in Arctic Rally.

It's nice to say 'if'. And Räikkönen also had a nice time. During maintenance breaks Kimi was circulating around his car like a falcon. He was very interested about what changes they made into the car and he spent a lot of time with his engineer's.

Kimi's engineer Cedric Mazenq praised Kimi a lot for his sensitive touch to his car and good feedback. They offered Kimi many different setups during this weekend so that he could choose the one he liked best.

The fact is that Kimi has now taken part in 5 rallies. He was about one second behind Sordo. It really wasn't a bad start for a WRC-driver. And because the car still wasn't like Kimi wanted it to be we can wait for his pace to improve. Kimi is therefore a driver who develops.

Here in Rovaniemi there are now many Kimi-fans. Kimi took his audience on the podium and got enormous applauds from his fans.

Will Iceman get a new name while the season goes on?

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

Kaj Lindström clarified that the problem was with the chassis.

- The car is too loose. It rolls too much in a tougher ride. That's why it's difficult to drive precisely.

[Boudica]

http://static.iltalehti.fi/ralli/juttukimiralli3001_ri.jpg

[pettersolberg29]

What trophy could he possibly get? 'Most Famous Driver'?

[Rallyper]

Kimi has done a very good job so far. And he learned a lot this weekend. Thats for sure.

Being 0,9 sec behind Sordo is better than I expected and promises many good rallies in the future for Kimi.

Here in Sweden we wait very much to see Kimi in Rally sweden in a fortnight.


By the way - N.O.T., there´s never gonna be a greek driver winning the WDC so you should choose Kimi as your favourite this year and support him... ;)

[Tomi]

Here in Sweden we wait very much to see Kimi in Rally sweden in a fortnight.

Then I give the same advise to you I gave Pino when he did go and see Galli, go to the first corner of the first stage. ;)

[miksu]

What trophy could he possibly get? 'Most Famous Driver'?

It reads "II P" -2. in his class i guess :P

[pettersolberg29]

2nd in class!? There were only two were there not?!

[Rallyper]

Then I give the same advise to you I gave Pino when he did go and see Galli, go to the first corner of the first stage. ;)

Yes, you have a point there. But - I think Kimi gained far more experience during the years as a top F1-driver, compared to other young guns doing their debut in big business, which will help him playing some tactics the first day of RS. He doesnt even need to be top 10 the first day.

Did I tell you we will not be at RS the first day... :p

But seriously - the main target for Kimi is to learn even in Sweden and make it all the way home on Sunday afternoon.

So we will see him many times during saturday and Sunday... ;)

[Tomi]

Yes, you have a point there. But - I think Kimi gained far more experience during the years as a top F1-driver, compared to other young guns doing their debut in big business, which will help him playing some tactics the first day of RS. He doesnt even need to be top 10 the first day.

Did I tell you we will not be at RS the first day... :p

But seriously - the main target for Kimi is to learn even in Sweden and make it all the way home on Sunday afternoon.

So we will see him many times during saturday and Sunday... ;)

yes the few first rallies are offcourse only learning, but it will be interesting to see how he progress.

[Rallyper]

And he will - thats for sure!!

Lets come together in november and make a conclusion of the season. And we will see Kimi top 5 in WDC. Remember this. ;)

[Boudica]

”Räikkönen seventh or eighth in WRC-rally”
30.01.2010 19:48

MTV3’s rally-expert Tommi Tuominen estimates that based on the Arctic-rally Kimi Räikkönen has a chance to reach last of the points in WRC-rally.

Points are distributed for the race’s eight best drivers.

- Kimi was consistently one second slower per kilometer compared to Dani Sordo. In my opinion that is very good pace, Tuominen judges Räikkönen’s performance.

If Kimi loses the same one second per kilometer in a WRC-race, it will accumulate in a 320 km long rally to little over 5 minutes difference to Sordo. Difference to the top is even bigger because Sordo loses to the top-drivers in WRC-rally a couple of tenths per kilometer.

- With that you are competing for a world championship point, even two. In Sweden Kimi can drive in his first rally for a WC-point. It is not that far away, Tuominen estimates.

Tuominen followed Räikkönen’s driving on Saturday in Jyrhämäjärvi’s special stage.

- There was this kind of double crossing at midway of the stage. You could see a clear difference in driving compared to Sordo. Sordo braked and then went through with throttle and then a small acceleration and brake and again throttle. Kimi had more of these kinds of executions in these two curves, Tuominen told about what he saw.

Räikkönen will be driving his first WRC-rally with a Citroen WRC-car in two weeks in Sweden.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

(Translation thanks to Leijona)

[N.O.T]

did you take into account that the event was on snow where sordo is laughable by the top guys in the WRC ??? 1 sec/km is A LOT

[bluuford]

did you take into account that the event was on snow where sordo is laughable by the top guys in the WRC ??? 1 sec/km is A LOT

Did you noticed that in 2008 in Sweden Sordo would have been third behind Hirvonen and in front of Galli and Petter (your favorite baby:-)
(he got 5 minutes penalty for Engine change)

[N.O.T]

final results always are deciving...usually all the conclusions about speed should be made in day 1 and sometimes day 2....after that its usually cruising for the leaders and position holding for the rest....

[Boudica]

THEY CHEERED FOR KIMI ON LORDI's SQUARE
Turun Sanomat 30.1 2010 22:34:06

There was more than enough of atmosphere and feeling on Lordi's Square. Kimi Räikkönen climbed on the podium as the 2nd in the international serie and you could see how much he enjoyed his position as the common folks' favourite among the cheering audience.

Räikkönen lost 36 minutes and 38,9 seconds to Dani Sordo. The giant 30 minutes came from Räikkönen's note mistake that lead to him driving out on Friday.

On Friday Räikkönen lost about a second per kilometer to the experienced Spaniard. On Saturday he lost only 0,8 seconds.

In the final results Sordo was first and Räikkönen on 58th position. The national rally was won by Mitsubishi's Kosti Katajamäki.

– Like I said before the race, the position doesn't matter. All and all I'm satisfied with the race. It was fun again and hopefully we will be here next year too, Räikkönen said.

– The main thing is that we got to the finish line. The race was ok because we got through it and collected kilometers. The slip on Friday should not have happened and won't happen again. We got work done for Sweden's WRC-opening, Räikkönen said.

Where is the F1-champion going right now when compared to the rally-top?

– A lot of work has to be done but I think that our pace will improve from this. I noticed myself that I brake too early or pump too much in many places.

– I just have to gain more experience when I haven't drove many rallies. It was good that the times weren't a catastrophy even though I lifted my foot from the pedal and braked too early. Of course the pace isn't what I want it to be but it's useless to try and improve it from the very beginning when you know that everything doesn't yet feel like it should feel, Räikkönen summed up.

– We know where the difference comes from and we will work so that we are at some point much more closer to the top.

– As a whole this was a good training race. I got more touch, trust and feeling to the car.

The driving out on Friday will most certainly give more pulse to listen more carefully to the notes.

The corner they drove out in was marked 3 but Räikkönen acted in the corner with note 5. As a consequence to that error the Citroen went into the corner with a too fast speed, 150 km/h.

– With Kimi we use a number note. The number means stiffness, co-driver Kaj Lindström clarified.

Sebastien Ogier came also to Rovaniemi on Friday. He will drive in Lapland testing for Sweden's rally.

On Tuesday all the drivers will gather to FIA's WRC-team info in Paris. Räikkönen will then meet the champion Sebastien Loeb for the first time.

TS asked Sordo before the Tunturi-start, what is more important to him - winning Loeb or Räikkönen.
– Winning Loeb of course. My goal is to win at least one WRC-rally this year, Sordo smiled.

French rumours have already been putting Räikkönen beside Loeb in season 2011.

Sordo assured that he enjoyed the Arctic Lapland -challenges very much even though his heart went up his throat when there was all of a sudden a motorsledger blocking the road.

– It was an unbelievable and scary moment when somebody drove a sledge in a very fast corner. I tried to get past him but he was just going from side to side in front of me. I lost a lot of time but that was not the problem, it was the endangered safety, Sordo accused.

The Spaniard was the fastest on all 12 stages.

- I have never won every stage in any international rally. Of course it can't be compared since others didn't have similar cars but I'm still proud of this result, Sordo said.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Eki]

2nd in class!? There were only two were there not?!

So? The second is the second regardless of how many contenders there were.

[pettersolberg29]

I know but it's a bit cheeky posing with the trophy as if it's some great achievement!

[JFL]

well,,,. the "world" rally championship had 4 contenders with "equal equipment " ;)

[BDunnell]

Let's think about what lies ahead of Räikkönen for a moment. No-one should expect miracles from him. There's no reason he should be any better than Derek Warwick was on the 1990 RAC (which was actually very good). I was reading an interview with Hannu Mikkola the other day in which he spoke about driving an Impreza WRC and Focus WRC. He said they were easy to drive but very hard to drive anywhere near the limit. This, surely, will be Kimi's problem. But his involvement should be welcomed.

[Boudica]

WHERE IS THE PADDOCK?

I doubt any national opening rally has awakened as much interest even before it began than the Arctic Rally did this weekend. Maybe the interest was at the same level when Mika Häkkinen took part in the rally for the first time and was driving the factory team's Mitsubishi Lancer WRC. Now Kimi Räikkönen, who had his goals on a completely different level than Häkkinen, was on the line. The other one drives so that he could win in the future and the other one just for a hobby.

First of all I have to be sorry for how Räikkönen's participation made almost every news agency go crazy and the result didn't help at all. I'm sorry on the official and real winner of Arctic Rally, Kosti Katajamäki's, behalf. In order to get Sordo and Räikkönen to start from the top the organiser had to make an additional regulation. It said that the class 18 (WRC-cars) drive only for their class but unfortunately all news agencies were shouting that Sordo won the Arctic Rally. It wasn't like that, the winner was Kosti Katajamäki. Sordo won class 18. In order to make it as confusing as possible to those people who don't follow rally, let me say that Katajamäki didn't however win one single national rally in Lapland. There were two races and the winners of those were Juha Salo and Kristian Sohlberg. None of these winners lead the national serie, the winner Katajamäki leads it, even though he didn't get any extra points for being the fastest driver of the race. If you drive two national rallies during one weekend I think it would be a more wiser version to drive clearly two separate races without having beside it a completely meaningless two days 'joint result'. This procedure only messes things up completely unless you are seriously following the genre.

Räikkönen's performance in Lapland was in my opinion good. In his first race he was one second per kilometer slower than the more experienced Sordo. This matter has been torn apart in so many different corners so it's useless to start digging into it more. However a funny thing came up when I was about to leave Rovaniemi. I met Räikkönen's manager Steve Robertson on the airport and waited with him for the departure of the delayed flight. Steve said that the rally was quite a shock for him. He was transported to Mäntyvaara service park and his first question was 'Where's the Paddock?'. You know the place where they sip champagne and eat crabs and where everyone is so damn posh. Well there was no paddock of course and neither were there many other things Steve has been used to on the F1-paddock. He also thought that Kimi's service park was there among the others, in a completely normal tent. Rock’n'Roll! We laughed to these things and Steve didn't say them with any arrogance. Yet it was easy to notice how he is more of a track- than rally-neck. Oh well, he noticed the same himself too ....

But now we have seen it then - Kimi Räikkönen's first rally with a WRC-car. Waiting for Sweden. The estimated defeat to the lead will be something like battling for the last point. Everything else after that will be a big plus. The factory pilots will go faster, so will Bosse and Petter go. There's already six. After that there are names like Henning Sohlberg, Mads Östberg, Sebastien Ogier and Matthew Wilson. So he really has to push forward really hard if he is going to bring home one point. But he pushes - surprisingly daringly.

Tomi Tuominen
http://blogit.mtv3.fi/rallitietaja/2010/02/01/missa-on-paddock/

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

http://www.kimiraikkonen.com/videos/2.asp

[Rallyper]

http://www.kimiraikkonen.com/videos/2.asp

Very professional vid. Nice!

[Motorsportfun]

I don't get all the fuss over driver sites. I can honestly say the first and last time I visited one was Colin's site to sign the condolences list...

New media (website, social networks, etc) are important as well as a good tv coverage, for the sponsors' point of view. :s mokin:

It's big value, not fuss...

[Boudica]

Loeb gives 4-5 rallies as learning time for Kimi
Turun Sanomat 7.2 2010 21:23:28

Sebastien Loeb, rally's six-time champion and winner of 54 races, Sebastien Loeb believes the new contender Kimi Räikkönen's competitiveness will be solved during the season's first 4-5 rally-races.

- If Kimi can't reach proper times in the first 4-5 races, one can draw a conclusion that it will be really difficult for him to stand out from the mass, Loeb said in a recent interview.

- I don't believe it will take many races for Kimi to be able to show his speed. When most of the special stages are driven for a second time that can give Kimi a certain benefit.

Loeb doesn't question the F1-champ's adaptability.

- Kimi's fantastic career development in F1 gives you a that kind of image that he could be very fast in tarmac rallies - like in Catalonia. But as Kimi comes from Finland, he could be fast also on other surfaces such as snow and gravel, where there isn't that much grip, Loeb ponders.

It's good to train in Finland

Loeb believes that it would be easier to transfer from rally to track rather than from being a so called "speed-driver" to rally-races.

- On track one can get a good time with a good car when you follow the lines and driving-lines carefully. In rally it is more difficult to get such a competitive pace as the notes are so important and every time you will have to know how to improvise.

- I would imagine that learning and understanding the notes is not easy at all for Kimi. But he has a good opportunity to coach himself and learn to hear the voices inside his helmet. There is enough forests in Finland and in the middle of forests there are small roads where Kimi can drive kilometer after a kilometer and get used to the notes properly.

But what kind of image does Loeb have before the WRC Sweden about the Citroen Junior Team's driver called Kimi Räikkönen?

- At this point I know what every other rally-expert knows. Last summer in Jyväskylä in Finnish WC-rally Kimi didn't drive bad at all. He lost with Fiat Grande Punto a second per kilometer to his own class' top.

- I don't believe it will generate difficulties for Kimi to change from Super 2000-class to WRC-car. Only making notes in completely unfamiliar rallies is the thing what everything depends on, Loeb weighs.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/109672.html

(Translation thanks to Leijona)

[Boudica]

Q: "And about all the changes in F1 this year, what do you think?"
Montoya: "The most interesting thing for me is seeing what Kimi will be able to do in rally races!"


http://cid-23b1abff33cab8a4.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Articoli%20Stampa/Autosprint%202010/AS5-2feb2010%20%5E52%5E6.jpg

Kimi Räikkönen is also a rookie this year in the WRC. He is from Red Bull, you're going with advertising for the Monster Energy Drink.
Ken Block: That's right. But unfortunately, while I step up against one of the most thrilling Formula 1 drivers of all time. And now we are compared to each other just because we're both rookies. I think I'm as easily at a disadvantage.


http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/rallye/wrc-ken-block-exklusiv-finnland-rallye-1733373.html

[Boudica]

We've the best bunch of five

CITROEN boss Olivier Quesnel can't wait to see his five-star driver line-up in action - boasting: I've got a dream team!

The French firm will battle Ford for supremacy in the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship, starting in the snow and ice in Sweden on Friday.

And no less than FIVE world champions will be at the wheel of the all-conquering Citroen C4.

Six-times world champion Sebastien Loeb leads Citroen's title charge, backed up by Spain's Dani Sordo, the 2005 Junior World rally champ.

Quesnel said: "You don't change a winning team."

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One world champion, will partner 2008 Junior world rally champ Sebastien Ogier in the Red Bull Citroen Junior Team.

Petter Solberg and Welsh co-driver Phil Mills - WRC kings in 2003 - compete in a private C4.

Quesnel added: "The final year of the World Rally Cars looks like being a great one for the World Championship - and for Citroën. We've got a real dream team.

"The drivers of the five C4 WRCs entered this season have all been word champions in motor racing - Loeb, Sordo, Ogier, Raďkkönen, and Solberg with his own team. It's difficult to do much better."

Loeb promised: "I'll start every rally with the intention of winning it.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/motorsport/2843767/Weve-the-best-bunch-of-five.html


Raikkonen revelling in new challenge
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6771473/raikkonen-revelling-in-new-challenge/

[Boudica]

Kimi Swedish Rally preview in Finnish:

A SNOWY PREMIERE

Isn't it so in the theater that after a bad dress rehearsal you have a good premiere. Hopefully the same applies to me on the rally-stage.

Our practice - the Arctic Rally - didn't go that bad but there was that one blunder which should not happen again in Sweden.

It's really cool to go racing and start the season. You always enjoy it and it's what I've always wanted to do most.

My feelings are terribly great as always before the season's opening race. When you are a racer all you want to do is race. It's great that the rally season starts now while in F1 you had to wait for one month longer.

I know I don't have too much of rally experience but out of the five rallies I've raced three on snow. That's why it's good that the first WRC-rally is the same element.

But the snow isn't any easy surface. You have to drive very precisely in a clean driving line so there won't be any extra program.

In Arctic I got a good feeling of snow and we got to compare our pace to Dani Sordo's pace. Well, Sordo went but that's how it was supposed to go when the guy is driving in a gang of the four best in the world.

We know with Lindström's Kaitsu where the difference came from. Now we have excercised with those things and tried to get the package in as good shape as possible for Sweden.

I need to get the car more comfortable to drive so that I know how it behaves and how it turns. Of course I also have to adapt my own driving style at the same time.

In Arctic rally our advantage was that we got to drive the rally with the same tyres we will use in Sweden.

People ask me all the time about what's my goal. I don't want to start acting rashly with those things because it's useless. We just try to get some good rallies in the beginning and start to lift the pace as soon as there's a possibility for it.

I'm going into an unfamiliar world now. All rallies except Jyväskylä are completely new experiences for me. That's why I have so much to learn and I have no idea of my own pace at this point.

We have been hashing over this but the truth is that the rally gang is much more laid-back than the people on the F1-paddock are. These guys like to do everything together and we talk much more freely about driving.

If I don't find the pace it's for sure not because others don't want to advice me and help a newbie.

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[AndyRAC]

Good piece in today's Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/kimi-raikkonen-in-formula-one-too-many-unpleasant-things-are-going-on-1893358.html

[Boudica]

Good piece in today's Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/kimi-raikkonen-in-formula-one-too-many-unpleasant-things-are-going-on-1893358.html

Thanks, nice article.

[Boudica]

http://www.vf.se/upload/ar%202010/feb2010/Vecka%206/onsdag/2Kimi%20Hak.jpg

[Boudica]

Kimi Räikkönen's arrival in the WRC-serie is in a central position now when the genre is looking for a new place to stand on. For Kimi himself this was the best possible choice at this point of his career. And the timing was perfect. They talk about a trial but I don't see things that way. The arrangements made in the background alone tell about that plus he also has a competitive car.

Red Bull pays for all this and they absolutely don't ask for any miracles from him. Neither does the service supplier Citroen. No matter how it goes it's all good for all parties involved. Kimi will create pressure on himself. He won't stress but as one of the toughest racers he will not go there to lose. But he can start the season with loose wrists. As he should too. Arctic prepared him for Sweden's snow but already the next rally in Mexico will be a shock and it's best that he experiences it right in the beginning.

A story of it's own is the inner competition Kimi Räikkönen vs Sebastien Ogier in Citroen Junior Team. The Frenchman has learned from his mistakes and is clearly more ready to fight for top positions. Despite the rules that demand differences between factory and junior team's cars both Ogier and Kimi will drive with a machinery they can win with. You can expect Ogier to win but you can't expect Kimi to win.

Kimi, Kaj Lindström, Mark Arnall and the team will do everything in their power to make shortcuts but I don't see victories as any realistic goals. The only thing I believe strongly in is Kimi's amazingly fast development.

If quick turns which are typical in motorsport and an unusual situation would open the door for Kim to win, then Kimi could be in some sense even ahead Ogier in the team's inner pecking order. Citroen is preparing Ogier to be the next Loeb but they have reserved time for that. Kimi's victory would explode the bank for the genre, Citroen and his sponsors. Everybody knows that Kimi isn't at the same level as Loeb, Hirvonen, Sordo or Latvala but... 'you are always as good as your last race'.

Ogier needs now patience. Not when it comes to showing his skills but inside the team. During the beginning of the season everybody is extatic over Kimi. Therefore Ogier has a chance to concentrate in peace. But the competition is tough. I cannot for one second imagine the top talented, extremely competitive Ogier to swallow easily the fact that Kimi for example took his race engineer. The person who is the most important factor for the driver in the team when it comes to perfomance. Even if we take away Kimi's F1-championship his and Ogier's settings are the opposite: Kimi is valuable when it comes to marketing but most of all he is a well paying client. Ogier is a talent who is building up his career with the support of Citroen and the French government.

Jukka Mildh, YLE Urheilu

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

EVERYBODY wanted to meet Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen creates hysteria before his WRC-debute and already now both he and Citroën dreams about podium finishes in the championship. -Maybe sometimes later in season, says Räikkönen for VF-sports.

Citroëns teammanager Olivier Quesnel started a highly popular media gathering by telling his teams goals for the next season which is that the team and Sébastien Loeb defends their championships again. Also he hopes that the junior-team's Sébastien Ogier and Kimi Räikkönen will take podium finishes during the season.
-And maybe more? Why not? says Quesnel.
The teammanager has high expectations on his "junior duo".
And Kimi himself who after some stalling agreed to answer journalists questions hopes for a good rally career.
-In the beginning it will take time, now we will just learn. The further the season goes so maybe. Hopefully we can have good results says Räikkönen.
VF-sport was there when F1-champion from 2007 got a ride with the excellent Loeb on testing in Gräsmark last week. Then he didnt want to talk. Now it went better.
-Its good to see how Loeb drives, a good experience. We talked about many things. -He has won alot, a very good driver.
Eventhough he hasn't driven his first WRC rally yet for Citroën there is talks that Räikkönen will make a comeback in Formula One for Red Bull next year. When we ask him if he miss anything whatsoever from F1 his answer is: -No, nothing.
What is the most fun about rally?
-I like everything. Everything is new. Its very exciting so there isn't any special thing in particular i like best. Rally is fun altogether.
Still he has much to learn but the raw talent is there. Much of it is up to his co-driver Kaj Lindström to refine. Its difficult to drive fast and completely trust the co-drivers notes.
-Thats the hardest thing so far.
Lindström repeats his comment about Räikkönen from last week:
-He is a natural talent.
Have you sat next to a driver that has as much talent?
-No never. Tommi Mäkinen is still the best one i have driven with but the way Kimi adapts to the new car is fantastic.
How is the interest about you compared to before?
-Now its completely different. it cant be compared to what it was liked when i drove with Tommi.
Kimi Räikkönen politely answered the questions during the short time that was given. He hopes that the transit from Formula One to rally would be smooth in several ways.
-Its still a steering wheel, pedals and four wheels.
Räikkönen also talked down the incident on reconnaissance on Tuesday when he crashed with another rally driver.
-It was a small crash, he hit us in the side when we were about to turn around. It was very slippery at that spot.
Who was it?
-I know the guy, says Räikkönen and laughs but doesn't reveal his name.
Unconfirmed reports say that its the Finnish driver Mattias Therman that drives for Stobart-team.

http://www.vf.se/Sport/Varmland/ALLA-ville-traffa-med-Raikkonen-100210.aspx

(Translation thanks to Danmanfin)

[Boudica]

Räikkönen sweared to the spectators walking on the road

Kimi Räikkönen cursed to the ill-behaved swedish spectators in Swedish rally test special stage.

Räikkönen admits that he heated up behind the wheel.

- I am swearing there [in the car] if there are spectators on the road, like today they walked there two times, the Iceman told about his reaction to MTV3.

Räikkönen drove the shakedown through six times improving his time every time.

- Driving was little lost in the beginning. It took a couple of times for me to again get used to the car, Kimi commented.

The fastest driver on the test-SS, Sebastien Loeb, ran 6 seconds away from Räikkönen in the 4 kilometre long stage.

- I'm quite a lot of years behind the top-drivers in experience. Of course I develop all the time but it will take time before I'm fast enough, but that's just normal. People are expecting that I should be fast right away but I don't have that kind of expectations myself because I know that this is only in the initial stage and everything is new. Let's go step by step, Räikkönen told.

Räikkönen predicts that he will be left further from the top in Swedish Rally than in Rovaniemi in Arctic-rally, where he lost about 0,9 seconds per kilometer to Citroen's Daniel Sordo. Räikkönen is driving the Swedish rally's special stages in the coming weekend for the first time.

- Here it is more difficult than in Arctic-rally where I had one year experience. The fast stages seem difficult here. I'll try my best and let's see how it goes, Kimi said.

Getting experience of Citroen's WRC-car is the most important thing for Kimi at the moment.

- Experience makes the biggest difference, that can't be taught. I can improve more by driving than by doing changes to my car, Kimi said.

http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/ralli/uutiset.s...2010/02/1054526 (http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/ralli/uutiset.shtml/arkistot/ralli/2010/02/1054526)

[Boudica]

Mika warns Kimi over his Rally move:


But while Raikkonen hopes for an easy transition from F1’s smooth tarmac to rally’s more testing terrain, Hakkinen expects his countryman to struggle to get to grips with his new career choice.

“I tried rally many times and if you want to be at the top of the podium in rally, it’s going to take a massively long time,” said Hakkinen, who was in the capital yesterday announcing the shortlists for the Laureus Sports Awards.

“In Kimi’s case, he is a fantastically talented driver and he has all the chances, but it takes time. It takes years before you can perform at the top level. And the media is going to focus on him – especially in Finland. He has to be careful and really work hard.”

Raikkonen is famed for his withdrawn demeanour and an eagerness to shun the spotlight, but Hakkinen, the F1 world champion in 1998 and 1999, says such characteristics will have to change if the 30-year-old plans to reach his full potential in the WRC.

http://paradise.motorsportforum.com/forums/ (http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/393e/3/0/%2a/l%3B215648683%3B3-0%3B0%3B34288080%3B4307-300/250%3B31836997/31854873/1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.thenational.ae)
“He will have to work even harder than he did in Formula One, not only on the driving side, but also outside the driving: teamwork, media work, etc,” said Hakkinen, who retired from racing in 2001 after winning 20 grands prix in a career that spanned a decade.

“You have to co-operate and it’s challenging – there is no escape. In every sport you cannot just perform your sport, you have to do everything that goes on around it. You have to face the challenge.”

Raikkonen, who competed in last year’s Rally Finland and was placed 15th shortly before crashing out on the penultimate day’s final stage, said he is ready for the test that lies ahead.

“My goal is simply to do my best with the Citroen C4 WRC. My debut [season] in the World Rally Championship is an enormous challenge, but any driver who has competed in motorsport at a certain level always maintains the same way of working and the same desire to push themselves,” he said.

The 18-time grand prix winner hinted he may return to F1 next year, with Red Bull Racing being strongly linked. Raikkonen held talks with McLaren-Mercedes before opting to quit the sport.

“I think the decision to go to the WRC was perfect for him: he wanted to go to rally so why not let it be like that,” said Hakkinen.

“In Formula One, when you are a champion, you can always come back – always there are doors open. The question is which teams offer seats. You will always get a drive, but you want to come back in a winning team with a winning car. That is the target.”


http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100212/SPORT/702119918/1004

[Boudica]

Shakedown - Kimi's onboard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd0Vxe4h2Ho

[N.O.T]

He pays you to post all that stuff ?

[Langdale Forest]

Of course he wouldn't! ;)

[Hartusvuori]

http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/ralli/2010/881940.jpg

[Langdale Forest]

It looks like he finds it funny!

[Boudica]

Will Kimi Raikkonen make it in WRC? The jury is out

I never thought I would say this but I’m beating Kimi Raikkonen in a motor race. After eight stages of the Rally of Sweden, the climax to The Daily Telegraph Rally Challenge, Tony Jardine and I lie in 40th place overall in our Subaru Impreza, ahead of 14 other drivers including the 2007 F1 World Champion.

Of course, our relative positions are down to the fact that Kimi suffered a major crash. How could it be otherwise? But the crash, which cost the Finn about 26 minutes on the overall leaders, has got people out here wondering whether he will ever make the transition from F1.

It seems ridiculously early to be saying it, given this is Raikkonen’s first WRC event for a works team and only the fourth rally of his career, but he has now crashed his car in his last three events – the Rally of Finland, the Arctic Rally and the Rally of Sweden – and looks to many like his rally driving is on the wrong side of gung ho.

His pace is not in question. Neither is his courage. To be fair to him, he got straight back on the horse after crashing into a snow bank on SS6 and set the eighth fastest time of the day on SS7. A maverick by nature, he will have enjoyed that stage. As will the hundreds of excitable Finnish fans out here (there are flags everywhere – it seems half of Sweden is in fact Finnish. One guy flagged our car down at the end of a stage and we thought he was going to tell us something important but instead he just bellowed: “Kimi!!” through my window).

But is Kimi a serious rally prospect or a 30-something adrenaline junkie giving rallying a go due to lack of alternatives? Will he last the course or return to F1 the first opportunity he is given (at the right price)?

Personally, the longer this week has gone on, the more convinced I am that Kimi cannot stay in this sport. We have been up at 5am every day, returning to the hotel at about 10pm. This is my first WRC event but already the recce-ing and road sections are becoming exhausting. I have spent the last four days sitting solidly on my bum. The stages are exciting, don’t get me wrong, but the road sections do become monotonous.

I cannot imagine Kimi will be enjoying them. And given his dubious pedigree as a conversationalist, I wonder what he can be talking to his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom about for all those hours? In F1, he didn’t have to put in these sorts of shifts and was better remunerated for his efforts.

Either way, Kimi lies about nine minutes behind us, a situation that definitely ranks as the highlight of my brief rallying career to date. I’ve got to enjoy it while I can. Provided he doesn’t crash again, he should be able to make that time back again within two or three stages tomorrow, so the bragging rights are unlikely to last long.

We’ll just keep plodding along. After a poor start today when I lost my place reading my notes during SS2 and Tony was forced to “go visual”, we rallied and found a good rhythm, setting consistent rather than spectacular times as other cars crashed around us (incidentally, I didn’t feel so bad about my error when the co-driver in the car ahead of us, a Hungarian who has been doing this for 19 years, dropped his time card during refuelling and he and his driver went off without it… a cardinal sin for co-drivers).

Tony also had made one error today when he failed to engage a gear while utilising the launch control at the start of the final stage of the day – a repeat of Thursday night’s Super Special at the Karlstad trotting track.

So we’re 1-1 and there’s room for improvement. We’re confident we can catch a few of the cars ahead of us. The key, though, will be to stay out of trouble and stay consistent, particularly if the icy weather makes the conditions tomorrow any trickier. The mercury hit -23C as we were driving up to the first stage this morning, which is having an unpredictable effect on the stages. Ice, slush, gravel… it just depends on what time of the day and whether the specific section is in sun or shade.

We’re up at 5.30am again so I’d better get my beauty sleep. No doubt Kimi has been tucked up for hours. Or maybe not. That’s the thing about Kimi – he’s just so unpredictable.

Tom Cary

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tomcary/100005337/will-kimi-raikkonen-ever-make-it-in-wrc/

[Boudica]

What are your expectations for the WRC season as a whole?
“I wanted to get to the end of the rally in Sweden and to learn the car more. What I need is just more time in the car. For the rest of the season I want to make progress and fight with the others, but I have no special target in mind. We'll see how it goes.”

With limited time to recce and make pace notes, how helpful is it having the experience of Kaj Lindström and the Citroën team behind you?
“For sure it’s helpful to have other peoples’ experience. But, in the end, while they can help you with certain things, they can't tell you how to drive the car. This is something that you have to learn yourself.”

Have you spoken to Rami and other rally drivers about your move and what’s been the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
“It’s a little bit the same story. Of course, I talk with my brother and my friends about motorsport but, in the end, this is just talk. Driving the car is something you have to do yourself.”

Have you found a rallying surface you prefer?
“Not yet, as I haven’t tried everything yet. Maybe asphalt could be more familiar to me but, we will see when we get there.”

How does the atmosphere in the Service Park compare with the atmosphere in the F1 Paddock?
“It’s very different to F1, that’s for certain. From what I have seen so far, I like the rally atmosphere. But it’s only my first rally; I need time to get to know the whole scene better.”

[Boudica]

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1594/0001ntz.jpghttp://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1594/0001ntz.jpg9

[N.O.T]

very nice...i would like some comments from his lap dog as well though

[A.F.F.]

He pays you to post all that stuff ?

Why do you think Kimi would have that kind of money ? He is a poor like any other privateer.

[bluuford]

You know. Kimi impressed me today more than I expected.
6th fastest in stage 15
9th fastest in stage 14
10th fastest in ss 13
8th fastest in ss 12
Impressive was not just the place but the gap between him and leader.
Seems that he was one of the few Citroens who managed his tires to do well on SS 15 he lost only 0.77 sek/km for Loeb

[Boudica]

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia started the day fifth and solidly kept their position throughout the second day of the Rally Sweden. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström suffered a delay yesterday but strung together an encouraging series of top 10 stage times to accumulate a bit more experience behind the wheel of their Citroën C4 WRC.

On the first special stage of the day, the rear wing of Sébastien Ogier’s Citroën C4 WRC detached itself,
leaving the crew with a noticeable lack of rear downforce. “I’ve got no idea about how this happened, but
the car became very difficult to drive at high speed,” he reported. “I made sure that I didn’t take any risks
in order to be sure of making it back to service safely. The important thing now is to hang onto our fifth
place until the end.”

Starting 12th on the road, Kimi Räikkönen headed off to the stages eager to learn as much as possible
about his new craft. Despite a couple of errors of no real consequence, the Citroën Junior Team driver
racked up more kilometres and was able to provide valuable feedback to the technical team.

“Kimi is beginning to build up a good feeling with his Citroën C4 WRC,” explained his Citroën Junior
Team engineer Cédric Mazenc. “He has been able to get close to the times of drivers who are far more
experienced than he is in the WRC. Kimi is convinced that 80% of the improvement he could make in
performance will come from his actual driving rather than adjusting the car. So he is simply following the
usual path that people making their first steps in rallying usually take.”



After a half-hour service halt, Sébastien Ogier set off once more for the stages with a perfectly balanced
C4 WRC this time. Having posted fifth-fastest time in Vargasen (SS13) the former Junior World Rally
Champion decided to hang onto his original set of tyres for the next stage, in order to keep some new
tyres for the final long stage of the loop.

As it turned out, the conditions did not favour this strategy. Despite having new tyres on the front, the
C4 WRC proved tricky to drive with worn rear tyres. Sébastien Ogier made the same observation as
Sébastien Loeb: “We weren’t far off doing something very good but the rear tyres did not hold up
sufficiently well. The main thing is that we’ve held onto our place and that’s what we need to continue
doing tomorrow. Fifth would be a great result for our first time in Sweden.”

Kimi Räikkönen remained focussed on his target but upped his pace towards the end of the day. “I’m
getting a better feeling with the Citroën C4 WRC all the time,” said Kimi. “But I still need to understand
the aspects of my driving that I must improve. We’re looking at the split times to see where we are
compared to everyone else. This is very good for my experience. I’m happy about the way our day has
gone.”

[N.O.T]

You know. Kimi impressed me today more than I expected.
6th fastest in stage 15
9th fastest in stage 14
10th fastest in ss 13
8th fastest in ss 12
Impressive was not just the place but the gap between him and leader.
Seems that he was one of the few Citroens who managed his tires to do well on SS 15 he lost only 0.77 sek/km for Loeb

impressive is an understatement...i was in tears seeing my boy triumph like that...HE IS THE REAL DEAL

Kimmi legend rally kid !!!!!

[Boudica]

With a series of promising stage times, including one sixth-fastest time in the afternoon, the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion proved that he is starting to get the hang of automotive speed skating on snow and ice.

"Yes, it was really good," said Kimi after only his second full day on a World Championship rally. "I didn't like the first stage this morning so much; then we stalled the engine and got stuck for a little bit on the second stage. After then it all went really well for me; it was a nice day. I'm feeling more confident with the car and we had no problems at all. I always knew that finding the right driving style would take a bit of time, but now it is gradually coming. Hopefully we can have a strong final day tomorrow; I'm feeling quite confident."

Despite temperatures that bordered on the Baltic - a bit like Scandinavia itself - co-driver Kaj Lindstrom was also in an upbeat mood. Kaj knows proper speed when he sees it as one of his previous chauffeurs was four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen. Kimi is quite a different creature to Tommi but they're both heroes in Finland: and they've both already proved to be a favourite of the spectators on Rally Sweden.

"You can't really compare Kimi to Tommi but one thing they have in common is that they both have fantastic natural speed," said Kaj, whose favourite fashion accessory is a Red Bull bobble hat. "You can always improve your technique and together with Kimi this is something that we are trying to do, but you can't actually learn the speed. Today really showed how when you combine the right speed with the right technique things begin to come together. I've been very impressed by Kimi's progress and we're going to build on this in future."

[Boudica]

You know. Kimi impressed me today more than I expected.
6th fastest in stage 15
9th fastest in stage 14
10th fastest in ss 13
8th fastest in ss 12
Impressive was not just the place but the gap between him and leader.
Seems that he was one of the few Citroens who managed his tires to do well on SS 15 he lost only 0.77 sek/km for Loeb

Yes, it was surprising that he was able to manage his tyres, in fact he almost did better with the worn out tyres. Which made wonder. Everyone was commenting that the worn out tyres produced more oversteer. Kimi has always liked lots of oversteer, could that have something to do with his improvement? Perhaps the setup that he is currently using isn't ideal for him?

Anyways, I hope Kimi can perhaps improve a bit more tomorrow. :)

[bluuford]

impressive is an understatement...i was in tears seeing my boy triumph like that...HE IS THE REAL DEAL

Kimmi legend rally kid !!!!!

I am glad I touched your heart like that. But, please collect all those dear into your tea cup. Who knows what happens in Greece in summer. Maybe it is the only thing you can drink :-P

[N.O.T]

Yes, it was surprising that he was able to manage his tyres, in fact he almost did better with the worn out tyres. Which made wonder. Everyone was commenting that the worn out tyres produced more oversteer. Kimi has always liked lots of oversteer, could that have something to do with his improvement? Perhaps the setup that he is currently using isn't ideal for him?

Anyways, I hope Kimi can perhaps improve a bit more tomorrow. :)

a legend in the making.....those poor rally boys complaining like little girls about tyres and kimmi kid just dancing with them....A TRUE LEGEND

[Boudica]

THE JUMP FROM F1 TO WRC IS ALSO A LEARNING YEAR FOR KIMI'S PERSONAL TRAINER

Turun Sanomat 13.2 2010 23:07:11

The alarm clock goes off at 4.14 in the morning in Karlstad hotel. It means that the working day has started for both Kimi and especially his personal trainer Mark Arnall.

Ahead of them is a 110 km drive to the service park. There they will have a 20 minute breakfast.

Arnall is responsible for Red Bull Citroen junior team's both drivers and co-drivers drink supplies. Räikkönen gets two drink-bags in his car and Ogier gets two backpacks containing sportdrinks.

The service is in the noon. This is when the drivers quickly eat and Arnall fills the drink supplies to the cars.

The day ends when it's dark. After that they drive to the hotel where the bed is calling about 9-10 in the evening when you have to get up in the morning before the rooster in the henhouse does.

Arnall has been with Räikkönen ever since Kimi went to McLaren in 2002. His switch from F1 to WRC was also a big jump for his training guru.

– A racer has to be able to concentrate in the driving every moment. The trainer's job is to make sure that the driver is able to do that all the time both mentally and physically, Arnall listed.

– In this sense the difference between a F1- and a rally-driver is huge. When a F1-driver drives about 20 laps during in practice, then one hour in qualification and usually one hour and 40 minutes in the race, it leaves a lot of time to treat the physical and mental aspect.

– In rally it's completely different when you get going in the morning, drive about 10-20 minutes, then eat quickly during service and drive again intensively the afternoon. We get to the hotel in the evening and Kimi wants to go to sleep as fast as possible. Therefore the massage and after-treatment is really short. Of course if Kimi's back is in a condition that he needs a longer treatment, then it has to be done at the expense of his night sleep.

– It's going to be especially challenging to keep Kimi's physical and mental storages at the same level in hot races, Arnall thinks.

Physically and mentally the rally career is extremely tough for Räikkönen at this stage. Kimi has never before had to dig up his car with a shovel for 30 minutes and sweat as much as in some of the hottest GP's somewhere in Malaysia.

The mental bruises are a different thing. Being mentally strong Kimi seems to be able to take these setback as a part of his tough school in order to achieve a top speed in rally.

Turun Sanomat, Hagfors

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

RALLY START NOW WOULD SUIT KIMI


Kimi Räikkönen started the day in a snowbank again but the afternoon and especially the 15th SS with the 6th fastest time was already promising.

– This was a better day than Friday but we went again into the snowbank in the last corner. It will slowly start to go better, Räikkönen told TS.

They were nodding their heads in Citroen's camp when Räikkönen remarkably improved his pace. While his difference to his team mate Ogier was on Friday one second per kilometer Ogier was on Saturday for example on the 14th SS all over one second per kilometer faster.

– We had a good afternoon. It was a good drive without any overtrying or mistakes. We just concentrated so that Kimi got a feeling to the car. We got good times and the driving felt good, Kaj Lindström smiled.

So in other words Räikkönen would be ready to start this rally on Sunday?

– I don't know but the main thing is that the rally would continue in the same way. It's good when we are going forward all the time. It's good to continue and improve the pace, Lindström said.

Turun Sanomat, Hagfors

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

SIBERIA WILL TEACH

Turun Sanomat

Column 13.2.

We started to say 'Siberia will teach' in the 90's when things were tough.

F1-champion Kimi Räikkönen has experienced his own Siberia in the morning of his rallying career's arctic cold winter conditions.

The snow season will end on Sunday in Rally Sweden and a few tests and two winter rallies have given Räikkönen a rawish lesson of WRC-challenges on icy roads.

Räikkönen could probably go after Tunturi and Rally Sweden to a third snow rally in the middle of the snowbanks with a reasonable experience to lift up his pace the same way that happened from Friday to Saturday.

But the season is moving on to gravel rallies in Mexico, Jordania and Turkey.

I heard from Citroen's engineers that without the shoveling job on Friday Räikkönen would have been after the opening day 9th. And if he hadn't been stuck behind Abu Dhabi's Al he would have been 8th.

One can realistically count that Räikkönen's pace would have been enough for point positions.

Because he got extra program more than anyone could have anticipated, Räikkönen's goal was to only gain experience and the feeling he wants to get behind Citroen's steering wheel.

He found it comfortably on Saturday although the soft, car-swallowing banks became more familiar than needed. The last times told that Kimi has found the rhythm he has been looking for when driving a WRC-car.

The international rally-media is wondering with a round lip when Räikkönen is keeping his own line and isn't giving statements everytime he stops.

The Swedish filmstar Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was known as a big silent. The local media already said that Räikkönen is playing Garbo to the media.

So welcome Mr. Garbo! One thing is certain, Kimi will never become a motor mouth that the press would unanimously dig.

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[Boudica]

KIMI ADMITS: I WILL MAKE STUPID MISTAKES IN THE FUTURE TOO

Räikkönen couldn't say what was the most diffcult in the opening race.

- I guess everything. I learned a lot of things and also made stupid mistakes. We lost the game when we didn't see anything and got stuck in the snowbank when driving in a walking speed. Then there were some spins today and we touched the snowbanks. I guess it's normal since the conditions were tricky. The main thing was that we improved a little all the time.

Did you learn anything else than how to use the shovel?

- I think I knew how to shovel before that already, Kimi laughed.

- But I meant everything in general. When you haven't drove a rally like this you learn a lot. I should just learn as quickly as possible but because there always comes something new it will take it's own time. Let's just wait for a while.

- Stupid mistakes bug me. I'm sure there will be more of them in the future but at least we got to the finish line. We will try to improve after this.

- I never had any big expectations. I knew this was going to be a difficult race but of course some things surprised me, for example how difficult some stages and conditions were. The situations come pretty quickly when you don't have the experience if there is for example deep tracks or much snow. Maybe it will get easier when we go on gravel.

- We will go testing to Mexico next week. I haven't drove one meter on sand with the car so that is also going to be a new experience. After this it's going to be easier to go there though, Kimi thought.

MTV3 - Lauri Ouvinen / Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Hagfors, Ruotsi

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/ralli/uutiset.shtml/arkistot/ralli/2010/02/1056416

[Boudica]

"We lost a bit in the snow bank on the first day, and we spun three times, but we got to the finish and we learned a lot," Raikkonen said.

"We knew this was going to be a very difficult rally. We improved a bit all the time and that was our goal. Okay, I'm a bit disappointed to lose the time in the snow but that's a part of rallying."

The Finn thinks the gravel surface in Mexico will be easier for him to handle than the Swedish snow.

"For sure everything should be a bit easier on the gravel that I know from the past a little bit," said Raikkonen. "Everything I've done on snow before has always been a little bit tricky.

"We'll see how it goes in the test next week and hopefully we can improve in Mexico. We should be able to."

One of Raikkonen's targets is to make his pace notes more accurate.

"Of course it's much easier when you go second time [through the stages] but we had particularly good notes today and yesterday on some stages, and that makes a massive difference when you're not sure if the notes are completely right," he said.

"When you go through for the second time you can change them a bit and it makes it much, much easier. I'm sure experience makes a big, big difference. If we come here next time it's going to be a hell of a lot easier. But that's how it goes, you need to get the experience and then you can start pushing hard.

"I don't think it's the driving so much, you just need to get experience and get everything right, and the notes need to be really perfect to go fast."

Despite Raikkonen's incidents, his Citroen Junior team boss Benoit Nogier was delighted with his performance.

"Kimi has made a remarkable start on his first world championship event with us," Nogier said.

"We stuck completely to the plan that we had set out beforehand. Kimi got progressively quicker, but also remained calm in the face of all the new things that he had to learn."


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81511

[N.O.T]

yes thats what i am talking about !!!! that Nogier guy is a true supporter of the Human race...well done to him.

[Boudica]

Kimi's Progress:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_joxjeE7hoic/S3gGs9qE0AI/AAAAAAAAARE/tpp1xevtZTw/s640/kimi_4.jpg

Kimi started the rally by losing about 2,5s per kilometer to the fastest driver, and ended with 1,1s/km. The grey line is an estimate of how the progress was going, leaving out all the disasters.

(Info thanks to vakie)

[Koppomsbo]

Kimi's Progress:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_joxjeE7hoic/S3gGs9qE0AI/AAAAAAAAARE/tpp1xevtZTw/s640/kimi_4.jpg

Kimi started the rally by losing about 2,5s per kilometer to the fastest driver, and ended with 1,1s/km. The grey line is an estimate of how the progress was going, leaving out all the disasters.

(Info thanks to vakie)

Intresting, maybe u can add some for the final stages beacause the top guys
had lifted off a little bit but anyway he made progress

[ShiftingGears]

Interesting graph. I am keen to see how he goes in the tarmac events considering he is more familiar with the surface..


yes thats what i am talking about !!!! that Nogier guy is a true supporter of the Human race...well done to him.

Don't you have something better to do than act like a whinging little child on an internet forum? No-one appreciates what you're doing.

[Langdale Forest]

yes thats what i am talking about !!!! that Nogier guy is a true supporter of the Human race...well done to him.

Who is Nogier?

[Boudica]

Rally-Kimi has still wax in "note-ears"
Turun Sanomat

Like expected the F1-champion Kimi Räikkönen got a lot of homework from his first learning-course in WRC-rally world.

There is still wax in his "note-ear" and thus the driving accuracy on a stage is still in search mode. Because of Swedish rally Räikkönen understands even better how accurately you have to make notes for different stages.

- I had some pretty bad notes for couple of stages and I couldn't drive the way I wanted. That's how the outcome is resolved. If the notes are completely right, you can go a lot faster. But you can learn that only through experience and fortunately you get it all the time by itself along the way, Räikkönen summed up.

Co-driver Kaj Lindström says that you can learn making notes even at home.

- It progresses when Kimi goes with the car to for example visit the grocery store and thinks over the notes to each part of the road while driving. You just have to use time and ponder what I have to know in each spot.

- From this rally some good knowledge was attained when we noticed that something is missing from the note-aspect. Now there were spots where the braking points were too early, Lindstöm explains.

- But the overall performance from Kimi was indeed positive. The weak routine grew and the car was starting to fit the hands.

Räikkönen's main goal was fulfilled when Citroen made it to the finish. The end result was 30th positions and difference to the winner Mikko Hirvonen was prolonged to 38 minutes and 37 seconds.

- There were some stupid mistakes. We went from walking-speed to a snow-bank and were stuck there. Those mistakes could have been left undone but it's normal and part of rally, Räikkönen said.

Surprised by conditions

Before the rally Räikkönen said that he has no idea of his own pace compared to others. Now that information was accumulated.

- Of course they went fast. But this must have been one of the most difficult rallies where I had so much to learn.

Saturday's second to last stage was the best for Räikkönen, where he was the sixth fastest.

- The same snippet would have gone well also on the first round in the morning but because of a bad note I drove to a snow-bank on the last curve, Räikkönen remarked.

- It was easier all the time when the special stages were driven the second time.

Was the weekend more difficult than what you could prepare yourself?

- I didn't have big expectations at this point. I knew that it will be difficult but it surprised me how difficult certain places were. The situations happen in rally all of a sudden. When you have no experience from this, you don't really know what to do when there comes deep tracks or a lot of snow on the road.

Räikkönen was able to show his speed. In seven special stages out of 21 he was in top 10 and in seven others he was the 11th fastest.

Without getting stuck in a snow-bank Räikkönen would have been in top 10 and thus gotten a point right away.

- Kimi is learning this with a tough attitude and motivation. It tells a lot that when we were stuck in the snow-bank, Kimi took a shovel to his hand and decided to dig the car out of there himself, Lindström thanks.

Gravel-test in France

Next Saturday in France Räikkönen and Lindström are testing their Citroen for the first time on a gravel-road. Week after that they move over to the mainland of America where the second rally is driven in Mexico's gravel.

- When I have not driven one meter on gravel with this car and I have never even visited the country, it is difficult to say anything beforehand. But because of the experience I got in Jyväskylä with my own car I believe that on gravel it is certainly easier than it was now on snow, Räikkönen ponders.

Turun Sanomat, Karlstad

HEIKKI KULTA

http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/111359.html



(Translation thanks to Nicole)

[pettersolberg29]

Who is Nogier?

Team boss of Citroen Junior

[Tomi]

Rally-Kimi has still wax in "note-ears"
Turun Sanomat

Co-driver Kaj Lindström says that you can learn making notes even at home.

- It progresses when Kimi goes with the car to for example visit the grocery store and thinks over the notes to each part of the road while driving. You just have to use time and ponder what I have to know in each spot.

http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/111359.html

(Translation thanks to Nicole)

I think this is good for everyone who starts with rally, even better if the co-driver participates so they can test the note right away.

[Langdale Forest]

Team boss of Citroen Junior

Ok, I thought that was N.O.T's new name for Sebestien Ogier.

[Viking]

Rally Sweden boss is not impressed...

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnwt.se%2Fsport%2Farticle660126.ece&sl=auto&tl=en

[Daniel]

Rally Sweden boss is not impressed...

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnwt.se%2Fsport%2Farticle660126.ece&sl=auto&tl=en
Who gives a ****?

[Langdale Forest]

I always knew this was going to happen.

[Tomi]

Who gives a ****?

Exactly, the guy has repited him self 1000 times during the weekend already, funny in the article is now they want PG to drive the Citroen, lol.

[Langdale Forest]

I don't think N.O.T will be very happy when he sees that link!

[Viking]

Exactly, the guy has repited him self 1000 times during the weekend already, funny in the article is now they want PG to drive the Citroen, lol.

You are right, I heard more than nuff from the ice(snow)man! Makes Ahonen look like an comedian ;)

[JFL]

I wonder what all the kids and fans with the pen and paper in the servicepark was thinking, when he did'nt even look at them and walked back in the trailer.. It was a different athmosphere over at Stobart and PSWRT... At least some people got their autograph and see the face of the driver..

[Daniel]

I wonder what all the kids and fans with the pen and paper in the servicepark was thinking, when he did'nt even look at them and walked back in the trailer.. It was a different athmosphere over at Stobart and PSWRT... At least some people got their autograph and see the face of the driver..
I refer you to my earlier post on the subject.

I've been lucky to have a chat with some world class drivers and codrivers but people have got to realise that anything more than seeing them drive is a gift. The fact that Colin stopped for photos with a couple of forum members? A gift. The fact that Nicky Grist had a good chat to me about the incident at rally Oz in 2001 with Garry Connelly? A gift.

No one owns Kimi, if people realise that it'll all be good.

[N.O.T]

I wonder what all the kids and fans with the pen and paper in the servicepark was thinking, when he did'nt even look at them and walked back in the trailer.. It was a different athmosphere over at Stobart and PSWRT... At least some people got their autograph and see the face of the driver..

a human race speciment has far better things to do, than taking fotos and posing for the cameras.

from the disgraceful article of that rally sweden and that enemy of the human race guy there is only one thing i applaud

"Kimi is a different creature than the rally drivers"

[JFL]

well, then I would encourage every WRC driver to be like him and only think of their driving and themself.. It would be so awsome..

[cali]

I wonder what all the kids and fans with the pen and paper in the servicepark was thinking, when he did'nt even look at them and walked back in the trailer.. It was a different athmosphere over at Stobart and PSWRT... At least some people got their autograph and see the face of the driver..

Count BP Ford guys also in, when i was standing there, both JML and Mikko looked very happy and signed quite many autographs with a small-talk :) Very nice :)

[cali]

What comes to Kimi's driving, I think he did rather well, given the fact that this was only his 6th rally. Driving lines were nice, although compared to Mikko and Seb, he entered to the corners too carefully. But not bad at all.

[Daniel]

well, then I would encourage every WRC driver to be like him and only think of their driving and themself.. It would be so awsome..
I don't get where you're coming from? Do you feel like you own him or something? Kimi has always been a fairly private person so him staying in his car is not unexpected.

[JFL]

I don't get where you're coming from? Do you feel like you own him or something? Kimi has always been a fairly private person so him staying in his car is not unexpected.

Could'nt care less about him.. I just observed some disappointed fans..
Just let him go on.. And we'll see where that brings him.. He is after all "the Stig" of World rallying.. ;)

[Tomi]

well, then I would encourage every WRC driver to be like him and only think of their driving and themself.. It would be so awsome..

Or maybe you should try to understand that people have different personality, and some has it for sale but not everyone.
In the pre event press, all the questions did go to Kimi, a guy who drive his first WRC rally, better like this, that the credit goes to those who deserve it.

[F1boat]

The article was written by a hater especially the end about the gap. Journos should give Kimi time to adapt. But journos are trash, so...

[JFL]

Ok.. I understand perfectly..
So when other drivers talk too much, or too little thats wrong too.. You can't please everybody.. So let all the drivers be them selfs without bashing them for talking from the heart or like Kimi .. Keeping his mouth closed..

[Tomi]

Ok.. I understand perfectly..
So when other drivers talk too much, or too little thats wrong too.. You can't please everybody.. So let all the drivers be them selfs without bashing them for talking from the heart or like Kimi .. Keeping his mouth closed..

Offcourse you can bash them if you want, they are all public persons, even if some still have own will.

[cali]

Or maybe you should try to understand that people have different personality, and some has it for sale but not everyone.
In the pre event press, all the questions did go to Kimi, a guy who drive his first WRC rally, better like this, that the credit goes to those who deserve it.

Exactly, I quite understand his behaviour cause I do not like to be in the limelight as well. So let him be - in his own way he is very colourful personality :)

[cali]

The article was written by a hater especially the end about the gap. Journos should give Kimi time to adapt. But journos are trash, so...

Agreed, I also saw that this journalist has no clue about rallying to make such conclusions. Well, in these days every moron has the right to express their opinions in public...

[N.O.T]

Agreed, I also saw that this journalist has no clue about rallying to make such conclusions. Well, in these days every moron has the right to express their opinions in public...

indeed....

[Tomi]

You are right, I heard more than nuff from the ice(snow)man! Makes Ahonen look like an comedian ;)

Maybe so, but he is not supposed to be a comedian, soon as you guys understand a driver just have to be a driver, you might maybe get 1 worth mentioning.

[Daniel]

Maybe so, but he is not supposed to be a comedian, soon as you guys understand a driver just have to be a driver, you might maybe get 1 worth mentioning.
:up:

[cali]

indeed....

Good, then You understood about who I was talking about :)

[Viking]

Maybe so, but he is not supposed to be a comedian, soon as you guys understand a driver just have to be a driver, you might maybe get 1 worth mentioning.

Hey! I am on your side, let him sit in the car, ignore him and dont point cameras at him. There are other drivers that need the media time.

[rv]

this thing about Kimi attitude looks will be more mentioned in media than his results and achievements.
Media and fans should understand that Kimi is a racing driver and he want to compete, not to act as pop star like Lady Gaga who all the time are in spotlights.
And at first he is human being like everyone of us, and he have his own rights. I he want to talk then he talks, if not than not.

[Daniel]

this thing about Kimi attitude looks will be more mentioned in media than his results and achievements.
Media and fans should understand that Kimi is a racing driver and he want to compete, not to act as pop star like Lady Gaga who all the time are in spotlights.
And at first he is human being like everyone of us, and he have his own rights. I he want to talk then he talks, if not than not.

:) Perhaps Kimi should promise not to cut his hair till he takes a win in the WRC :rotflmao:

[cali]

:) Perhaps Kimi should promise not to cut his hair till he takes a win in the WRC :rotflmao:

How long hair would Petter have right now if he would have been a man behind his promises ? :p

[Daniel]

How long hair would Petter have right now if he would have been a man behind his promises ? :p
Let's just say that Petter could easily be in an 80's hair band......

[Langdale Forest]

a human race speciment has far better things to do, than taking fotos and posing for the cameras.

from the disgraceful article of that rally sweden and that enemy of the human race guy there is only one thing i applaud

"Kimi is a different creature than the rally drivers"

I don't think that a non-human has ever been in a rally. :rolleyes:
Kimi 'legend' kid is a rally driver now as well as an F1 champion. :p

How can that man who wrote that be the 'enemy' of the human race. :o

[Langdale Forest]

. But journos are trash, so...

Not all journalists are trash, some can be good. :)

[rv]

And I have Q to N.O.T?
what should do in your opinion racer from other race series participate in WRC not to get negative view from you?
I think that Kimi would like just to come and compete in WRC.
All this drama is made by media not by Kimi!

[A.F.F.]

WTF ??

Comparing to F1 time, kimmi speciment legend rich guy etc has been totally different... I actually haven't heard him talk during his F1 career combined than now during the rally Sweden weekend ?!?! What more do they want ?

I don't think the problem is that Kimi wouldn't want to speak for the media... I think the problem is that he just doesn't know anymore words what to speak.

[Langdale Forest]

Not refusing to speak is his fault and not the medias fault.

[N.O.T]

And I have Q to N.O.T?
what should do in your opinion racer from other race series participate in WRC not to get negative view from you?
I think that Kimi would like just to come and compete in WRC.
All this drama is made by media not by Kimi!

dediaction to the sport....Kimmi Kid is just doing this because he got no job in his sport not because he changed his heart...

Did you ever hear any negative comments from me about Sarrazin for example ?

[Daniel]

WTF ??

Comparing to F1 time, kimmi speciment legend rich guy etc has been totally different... I actually haven't heard him talk during his F1 career combined than now during the rally Sweden weekend ?!?! What more do they want ?

I don't think the problem is that Kimi wouldn't want to speak for the media... I think the problem is that he just doesn't know anymore words what to speak.

There's also the fact that Kimi doesn't need to be doing this. I'm sure Kimi has enough money in the bank to sit out a year or he could have gone racing in another series. If I was Kimi I wouldn't be talking for the sake of talking like some drivers have done in the past.

[Langdale Forest]

Did you ever hear any negative comments from me about Sarrazin for example ?

No, but Sarrazin was just a test driver, not an F1 champion so he will be less famous.

[Woodeye]

dediaction to the sport....Kimmi Kid is just doing this because he got no job in his sport not because he changed his heart...

Did you ever hear any negative comments from me about Sarrazin for example ?

So Kimi was forced to rally according to you? :D I reality he hates the sport and don't want to drive at all? I would love to have some of the mushrooms you must be eating daily.

Sarrazin had a true dedication to WRC. That's why he moved to Le Mans.

[Langdale Forest]

There's also the fact that Kimi doesn't need to be doing this. I'm sure Kimi has enough money in the bank to sit out a year or he could have gone racing in another series. If I was Kimi I wouldn't be talking for the sake of talking like some drivers have done in the past.

He should have done a year of rallying in Finland and then joined the WRC in 2011. :)

[N.O.T]

So Kimi was forced to rally according to you? :D I reality he hates the sport and don't want to drive at all? I would love to have some of the mushrooms you must be eating daily.

Sarrazin had a true dedication to WRC. That's why he moved to Le Mans.

Sarrazin moved because he wasn't that good on gravel to be competitive...kimi has much worse results than him yet he will stay because the sponsor says so.

Kimi is here for the simple reason that he cannot afford to be in the limelight not him or his sponsors....he doesn;t hate rallying he just isn;t serious about it, his comments and most of all his lap dogs comments just create fuss around his name.

see what you did now i must apologise to the human race for bashing him.

[Langdale Forest]

What is all the lap dogs nonsense?

[pettersolberg29]

Sarrazin moved because he wasn't that good on gravel to be competitive...kimi has much worse results than him yet he will stay because the sponsor says so.

Kimi is here for the simple reason that he cannot afford to be in the limelight not him or his sponsors....he doesn;t hate rallying he just isn;t serious about it, his comments and most of all his lap dogs comments just create fuss around his name.

see what you did now i must apologise to the human race for bashing him.

I hate to say it, but I sort of agree.Your point about Sarrazin is good but maybe you, and others inc. me, should keep quiet until Kimi has proved he's not competitive. We'd look stupid if he wins in Mexico now wouldn't we!

[N.O.T]

I hate to say it, but I sort of agree.Your point about Sarrazin is good but maybe you, and others inc. me, should keep quiet until Kimi has proved he's not competitive. We'd look stupid if he wins in Mexico now wouldn't we!

yes we would, thank god blok has other plans.....

[A.F.F.]

Sarrazin moved because he wasn't that good on gravel to be competitive...kimi has much worse results than him yet he will stay because the sponsor says so.


He (Kimi) has done one wrc rally ?? :confused:

I don't follow you Mr.Mousefart ... please enlighten me...

[N.O.T]

i don;t think i will...

[A.F.F.]

Sure you don't :dozey:

Anyways... I think Sarrazin did fairly good in rallying, especially on tarmac. But I fail to see the point of comparing Kimi to him until we've seen Kimi ahving done as many starts as Sarrazin did.

Plus, at the time of Sarrazin, the competition was I think harder. I mean there were more top guys driving back then so him having good stage or rally results was harder than it's for Kimi now.

[Woodeye]

Sarrazin moved because he wasn't that good on gravel to be competitive...kimi has much worse results than him yet he will stay because the sponsor says so.

Kimi is here for the simple reason that he cannot afford to be in the limelight not him or his sponsors....he doesn;t hate rallying he just isn;t serious about it, his comments and most of all his lap dogs comments just create fuss around his name.

see what you did now i must apologise to the human race for bashing him.

But maybe Sarrazing wasn't totally serious? I remember seeing him grining at least once. Maybe he was only 88,65 % serious about rallying. Because if he would've been serious he would've learned to drive on gravel like a man and not like a little kitten. That's what real men do.

[N.O.T]

But maybe Sarrazing wasn't totally serious? I remember seeing him grining at least once. Maybe he was only 88,65 % serious about rallying. Because if he would've been serious he would've learned to drive on gravel like a man and not like a little kitten. That's what real men do.

you are getting there but you need work with the animals you are using....not a bad efford and not very good either.

[Woodeye]

you are getting there but you need work with the animals you are using....not a bad efford and not very good either.

Bad effort and not very good. Reminds me of someone. Ah, oh yes, Mr. Mousefart.

[Francis44]

What's all this discussion about?!

The point is, Kimi isn't a fast rally driver, I facepalm to the people who thought he could be able to fight for podiums and wins, what were you thinking?!

He's a good driver, but a good F1 one. Only because is a Finn dosen't mean he can drive fast and be awesome on all disciplines.

And he might like rally, but this discipline change was a way to cry and try to make F1 people open their eyes, but guess what, F1 is doing great without him.

[rv]

The point is that actually Kimi is good driver - no matter what to drive.
Nobody of this forum freaks can't do better how Kimi did in Sweden!

[Francis44]

The point is that actually Kimi is good driver - no matter what to drive.
Nobody of this forum freaks can't do better how Kimi did in Sweden!

Is it possible to fail any more than you just did??

I wrote the comment above comparing Kimmi to other WRC drivers, not to people like us with our arses sitted in a nice comfy chair.

[Ghostwalker]

ah c'mon now francis44, give Kimi a break will you.

Let Kimi get at least a couple of WRC rallies behind him before you
trash him.
I do think that Kimi might become quite successful maybe not wins
but maybe finishes as 3-5 placed driver at the end of the season.

I don't think anyone expected that Kimi would be challenging the top boys from the first rally.

[Francis44]

ah c'mon now francis44, give Kimi a break will you.

Let Kimi get at least a couple of WRC rallies behind him before you
trash him.
I do think that Kimi might become quite successful maybe not wins
but maybe finishes as 3-5 placed driver at the end of the season.

I don't think anyone expected that Kimi would be challenging the top boys from the first rally.

I understand what some of you are saying. If the championship was full of top cars and drivers, for me there would be no problem for him to try rally.
The thing is good drivers like Novikov or Galli missed a chance to participate in this year championship because Mr. F1 woke up one day and thought he could do well WRC.
And in a time where teams dont want to spend money building new cars, those drivers with good skills got canned.
I hate when some top celebrities like him think they are above all and everything.

[Mirek]

I understand what some of you are saying. If the championship was full of top cars and drivers, for me there would be no problem for him to try rally.
The thing is good drivers like Novikov or Galli missed a chance to participate in this year championship because Mr. F1 woke up one day and thought he could do well WRC.
And in a time where teams dont want to spend money building new cars, those drivers with good skills got canned.
I hate when some top celebrities like him think they are above all and everything.

Your point of view is very biased. How can You know what he thinks about himself? If he stays at home would Novikov or Galli enter WRC? No, there is no connection between these things. Those two just don't have enough money to drive. If Kimi, Valentino, Ronaldo or even Brad Pitt wants to do WRC and is able to realize his wish, than I have no problem with him doing that.

[rv]

You can read his thoughts?
Like I write before - first of all Kimi is racer, celebrity status is given by media. I think Kimi hate this satus, and if he have this opportunity why not to try.

[dimviii]

in an other point of view these 2-3 million euros i would like to be spent on young guns.

[A.F.F.]

I understand what some of you are saying. If the championship was full of top cars and drivers, for me there would be no problem for him to try rally.
The thing is good drivers like Novikov or Galli missed a chance to participate in this year championship because Mr. F1 woke up one day and thought he could do well WRC.
And in a time where teams dont want to spend money building new cars, those drivers with good skills got canned.
I hate when some top celebrities like him think they are above all and everything.

When did Novikov became a good driver ?

[Francis44]

Oh, sorry, but I remember Galli couldn't drive this year because there was no more C4 WRC.

[Mirek]

I really don't believe that reason.

[Langdale Forest]

When did Novikov became a good driver ?

He became a good (stunt) driver. ;) :p

[Langdale Forest]

Is it possible to fail any more than you just did??




That's a bit harsh! :rolleyes:

[Tomi]

I understand what some of you are saying. If the championship was full of top cars and drivers, for me there would be no problem for him to try rally.
The thing is good drivers like Novikov or Galli missed a chance to participate in this year championship because Mr. F1 woke up one day and thought he could do well WRC.
And in a time where teams dont want to spend money building new cars, those drivers with good skills got canned.
I hate when some top celebrities like him think they are above all and everything.

you should be happy that there is theese, petter, henning, kimi, bloke, and others who are ready to pay for a drive, even they are not so fast and good drivers as the works guys, they very much keeps the show going on.

[miksu]

I understand what some of you are saying. If the championship was full of top cars and drivers, for me there would be no problem for him to try rally.
The thing is good drivers like Novikov or Galli missed a chance to participate in this year championship because Mr. F1 woke up one day and thought he could do well WRC.
And in a time where teams dont want to spend money building new cars, those drivers with good skills got canned.
I hate when some top celebrities like him think they are above all and everything.

heh. stop whining.

[Langdale Forest]

heh. stop whining.

+1

[A.F.F.]

Let's hope within two or three years there are enough manufacturers to drive all the quality drivers so there wouldn't be anyone worthy out from a seat.

[Tomi]

Let's hope within two or three years there are enough manufacturers to drive all the quality drivers so there wouldn't be anyone worthy out from a seat.
There will, already 2011 will be a few new teams, only to find the quality drivers will be a problem.

[A.F.F.]

There will, already 2011 will be a few new teams, only to find the quality drivers will be a problem.

There must be young or new talents in national series ... like back in the good old days :)

[Tomi]

There must be young or new talents in national series ... like back in the good old days :)
You mean like, Paasonen :) , you got pm.

[snellman]

doesn't anybody else love the fact that he doesn't give any interviews :D

[A.F.F.]

You mean like, Paasonen :) , you got pm.

ALERT !!!!

Paasonen spotted :hot:

[Tomi]

doesn't anybody else love the fact that he doesn't give any interviews :D

I think its funny how people gets pissed when he dont, like if its somehow personal :)

[Boudica]

I think its funny how people gets pissed when he dont, like if its somehow personal :)

Lol yes some jouros are taking it very personally.

But Kimi did give a lot of interviews, obviously he missed this one guy. This Per Mårtensson guy sound more like an angry child on an internet forum then an eloquent journalist. He even goes as far as attacking Kimi's signature, that is certainly a form of very intelligent discussion and debate.
But of course he is entitled to his opinions like everyone else. :s mokin:


Anyways, Kimi was a lot more media friendly then he usually is, I think he is really making an effort. It wouldn't surprise me if Kimi thought that he would escape lots of media attention by entering WRC. Of course that certainly hasn't been the case, the media has just as been rabid as ever.

People need to understand, that Kimi cant give a signature to every single fan and he cant give interviews to every single media outlet. It was reported that throughout the weekend there were a scrum of journalist around Kimi. Some people commented that it looked like Beatles mania all over again at times, even at the Citroen press conference beforehand, everyone just stormed up to Kimi, creating a lot of mayhem, while for example even Loeb was completely ignored. So that is the problem, you just simply cant compare Kimi's behaviour or lack of it, to the other WRC drivers, because they just dont have the same amount of media and pressure around them. There was constantly around 150 journalist following Kimi around, all of them wanting their own kind of special attention, in the end it is just an impossible situation, you just simply cant please all of them. At the end of the day Kimi is just a racing driver, he isn't a movie or a rock star.

But one thing is sure it seems like controversy around Kimi will keep going on no matter the genre. Red Bull and the WRC should be quite happy about this, because controversy always encourages lots of interest and discussion. F1 and a certain Mr. Ecclestone have been using this very same PR tactic very sucessfully, for a couple of of years now. ;)

How does the saying go? In the long run there is no such thing as bad publicity. :D

[Boudica]

http://i50.tinypic.com/zv6alj.jpg

[N.O.T]

very nice read...

[N.O.T]

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=6995&desc=%27Raikkonen+effect%27+rockets+WRC+figures+to +record+highs+

the human race has a new leader and figure to follow.

[N.O.T]

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=6989&desc=P-G+Andersson+collects+Abu+Dhabi+Spirit+of+the+Rally +award

and here you can see the cunning swede stealing the prize....wrc propaganda dogs have no shame...

[Daniel]

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=6995&desc=%27Raikkonen+effect%27+rockets+WRC+figures+to +record+highs+

the human race has a new leader and figure to follow.
Grow up....

[logic]

Grow up....

Not gonna happen.