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.
Source: Turun Sanomat/HEIKKI KULTA
Courtesy: Leijona Planet-F1
