Räikkönen tipped for top six in Sweden

Kimi Räikkönen's team manager has tipped the ex-Formula One world champion to challenge for a top six finish on Rally Sweden next week

Benoit Nogier, who will oversee the ICE 1 Racing operation on 10 rounds of the World Rally Championship, believes the Finn can shine on the snow-coated Swedish stages.

“I expect him to be in the battle - not for the podium but for the points,” said Nogier. “I think a top six finish for Kimi in Sweden is something we can expect and I hope he will be at this level on Friday, to expect this result on Sunday.”

Raikkonen, who got his first taste of Citroen’s new DS3 WRC during a test in Sweden last weekend, finished 10th in the final WRC drivers’ standings in 2010. Nogier said he was delighted when Raikkonen confirmed he would be returning for a second season in the WRC.

“It was very important [he has come back] because with Kimi we had the worst part with him last year, it was his first season in rally,” said Nogier. “We had two or three bad moments in the season, but it was very important to carry on with him now and to begin to build something very interesting and to start to not crash the car, but finish the rally and start to get good results. He can do this.”

Nogier said he expects Raikkonen to approach the season on a rally-by-rally basis, adding: “The goal will change rally after rally. Of course, we will try to get the best results we can from the beginning of the season. For the new events, for example Australia, it is important to just reach the finish line of the rally.”

He continued: “Kimi enjoyed driving the C4 so I cannot imagine that he will be disappointed with the DS3. I am very optimistic that Kimi will like it.”

Source: WRC
Courtesy: Julia

Team boss's goal for Räikkönen: No mistakes

Citroen's junior team will go to Rally Germany with a confident mind since in the last tarmac rally in Bulgaria both Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Ogier were in excellent speed

-Everyone in our team has good memories from our trip to Bulgaria. Kimi has so incredibly much to learn this year but in his first WRC tarmac rally he showed his abilities and Sebastien was also very competitive, chief of the junior team Benoit Nogier praised.

-But Rally Bulgaria was new for everyone. In Germany we will be against drivers who have a lot of experience of the circumstances. So we've given our drivers a goal of not making any mistakes, Nogier continued.

Räikkönen drives in Germany for the first time and Ogier hasn't driven the special stages with a WRC car yet either. When the German WRC rally was driven the previous time two years ago, Ogier won the juniors' WRC race with Citroen's Super 1600 car.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Dracaena

Räikkönen takes heart from Bulgaria

Bulgaria was by no means an easy event for ‘the iceman’, but Kimi Raikkonen is encouraged by the lessons learned so far on asphalt

Red Bull driver Kimi Raikkonen has been encouraged by his progress on the Rally Bulgaria, despite losing 10 minutes after missing the final stage of day one as the result of an accident.

Up until SS3 the former Grand Prix champion had been running in fourth place, until a gravelly right-hand corner caught him out. His Citroen went off the road and landed on its roof, but the damage was only cosmetic and the Finn was eventually able to continue under the super rally system, finishing 11th.

Now he feels that the experience gained will stand him in good stead for the three remaining asphalt rallies this year, in Germany, France and Spain.

"Some things were up and down but on the whole it was a good weekend," said Raikkonen. "The most important thing was to get used to driving the rally car on asphalt, which is obviously a completely different experience to driving a Formula One car. I feel a bit more comfortable on asphalt than I do on gravel, but rallying is still a totally different sport compared to racing and we have a lot to learn. Bit by bit the feeling is coming though, and I actually liked a lot of the roads here in Bulgaria: they were quite flowing with a nice rhythm."

Raikkonen will now get back to gravel with a two day test in Finland next week. "It will be nice to compete at home again and also to come back to a rally that I know a bit already," he added.

Citroen Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier said that he was impressed with Raikkonen’s progress on what was only his first World Championship asphalt rally. "If you consider his lack of experience, the times that Kimi has set are remarkable," he commented. "I think he has a lot of potential and this experience will definitely have helped him prepare for the remaining asphalt rallies."

Source: WRC

Sebastien Ogier and Kimi Raikkonen are ready for Rally de Portugal

After the long trip to New Zealand, the World Rally Championship gets back to European soil this weekend. The Rallye de Portugal, round six of the season, will be an excellent opportunity for Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia to underline their recent strong performances. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström have not done a rally for a month now, but they will aim to continue their progress with the Citroen C4 WRC

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are continuing their march towards the very top level of world rallying. The duo reached the second step of the podium for the first time on the 2009 Acropolis Rally, and secured a similar result in New Zealand two weeks ago. “Our initial programme didn’t actually even include this round,” said Sébastien. “I have to thank the entire team for making it possible for us to enter New Zealand – particularly because we obtained a result there that surpassed expectations. It’s a very good sign for the future; we’ve felt confident since the start of the season and just got quicker and quicker. For our first trip to New Zealand it was an excellent performance, and we really enjoyed driving the Citroën C4 WRC on those stages. ”

The Citroën Junior Team driver starts the Rallye de Portugal lying fourth in the World Championship standings and his objectives remain unchanged. “We’re going to stick with the same plan we’ve had since the beginning of the season,” added Sébastien. “Even though this is a rally that I know a bit about already, we need to make sure that there are no mistakes in Portugal and that we rack up the kilometres. It will be a great achievement if we can fight for a podium again. Starting the first day fourth on the road should be quite a good position for us.”

New Zealand did not form part of the scheduled programme for Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström, who return to the Citroën C4 WRC in Portugal. The former F1 World Champion will continue learning how to drive a WRC challenger on gravel over the demanding Portuguese stages. Having retired in Mexico, finished eighth in Jordan and claimed fifth in Turkey, the 30-year-old Finn will have to get to grips with another new event for him in Portugal, one of the classic rounds of the World Rally Championship.

“The short break did me a lot of good,” said Kimi. “We were able to sit down and analyse our start to the season, concentrating on specific details such as making pace notes and comparing our times to those of the frontrunners. A few kilometres of testing also meant that I was able to quickly get back up to speed in the car. I know that we still have a lot to learn because rallying remains a completely new sport for me, but I feel that we are making consistent progress.”

In Portugal, for his fifth event at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC, Kimi Räikkönen is also retaining the same targets. “I said from the very start that it was just a question of learning,” he pointed out. “We need to have everything in hand before trying to accelerate and chase the leaders. So it is necessary for us to get more and more experience. That’s going to be our goal in Portugal once more.”

In order to prepare for round five of the season, both drivers took part in a gravel test session in eastern France at the end of this week.

Three questions to... Benoit Nogier Citroën Junior Team Manager

Let’s look back at the trip to New Zealand... adding this event to Sébastien Ogier’s programme certainly worked out well!
“New Zealand was a great experience for the entire team. Once again, Sébastien was extremely happy with the car. He pushed hard from start to finish, don’t forget, without anybody at all telling him what to do. He was constantly flat-out, and I hope he keeps that feeling within him. It’s the first time that he has been forced to push that hard all the way to the finish. He’ll need to remember that whole experience in order to do it again in the future!”

Since the start of the season, none of the Citroën Junior Team C4 WRCs have experienced any mechanical problems. That must be a huge source of satisfaction for a Team Manager?
“It’s just down to the hard work of all the team over several months. Citroën Racing’s design office has produced the best World Rally Car and we are doing everything we can to make the most of it. From the people who prepare the spare parts package to the engineers who analyse data during the debriefs, it’s a long-term job that has allowed us to enjoy this high degree of reliability. We take a huge amount of care when it comes to the preparation of our two cars and our drivers benefit from that. This rigour and discipline in our working practices means that we are right up there and able to score the sort of results that everyone has seen so far this year.”

Now the season continues in Portugal: an event that Sébastien Ogier already knows but another brand new one for Kimi Räikkönen. Do the objectives change at all?
“Kimi’s target is continue the work he has started since the start of the season: no more and no less. He will undoubtedly face a tougher task than he did in Turkey, as all the drivers already know Portugal whereas he has it still to learn. He’s very aware that there’s a long road ahead of him, but together with Kaj he is adopting an extremely professional approach. He needs to carry on in the same calm frame of mind, even though this will inevitably take some time. As for Sébastien, he also needs to stay on track and stay cool. Despite his recent results, he has certainly never let success go to his head and that is a crucial attitude he must preserve. It’s important to keep a clear view on everything and while Sébastien still has a lot to learn, it would seemingly not be too presumptuous to aim for a podium in Portugal. His goal at the start of the rally will be to fight with the four factory drivers. We’re clearly somewhat ahead of the plan we established at the start of the year, but the mission is by no means completely accomplished. Sébastien needs to get to the end of a rally now with no mistakes.”

Source: RallyBuzz