The ‘ice man’ recovered from hitting a snow bank on stage six to finish 37 minutes off winner Mikko Hirvonen.Raikkonen, 30, said: “It was a really encouraging event, which allowed me to learn so much.”
Fords Hirvonen was 42.3 seconds ahead of Raikkonen’s Citroen team mate Sebastian Loeb while Jari-Mati Latvala was third.
Citroen boss Oliver Quesnel was quick to praise Raikkonen’s efforts after a difficult weekend.
“We cannot ask too much of Kimi at this stage” he said. “Sweden I think is the most difficult rally to start with, and everybody is looking at him and waiting for – I don’t know what – but he could give more than he has.” “kimi did not do a bad job here. He told me he made too many mistakes but it’s obvious he has to make mistakes – he’s learning.”
Raikkonen set several top 10 stage times, including a sixth fastest time on Saturaday, meaning he would have comfortably scored points had he not lost 26 minutes when he hit the snow bank on Friday. The 2007 Ferrari champion reflected; “It was a really encouraging event, which allowed me to learn so much.” “From the start to the finish I felt I was improving all the time. Sure, we still have a lot to learn because the whole feeling is so different to what I had in Formula 1.”
“But I’m getting a good idea of how to use the pace notes now and I understand the car a bit better as well.”
“Now I’m looking forward to driving gravel on the nest rally in Mexico; it should be a bit easier for me.”
After his poor performance in his last year of Formula 1, it was good to see the Fin upbeat about his chances, maybe the more relaxed environment of Rallying has been a good thing for Kimi.
His chances of winning the title this year are slim however, 125/1 with Betfred. However depending on how the rest of the season goes, he may be in with a good chance in 2011.
Source: Betting Gaming Supermarket
Courtesy: luieluv Planet-F1
