Sordo and Räikkönen brave the Welsh storm

CITROËN JUNIOR TEAM IN WALES 2010. LEG 1

Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo occupy fifth place overall at the end of day one on the Rally Great Britain, having formed part of the leading group from the very beginning of the event. In the second Citroën Junior Team C4 WRC, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström end the day 10th after a sensible rally so far.

The Rally Great Britain got underway in the midst of an autumn storm, named ‘Carmen’ by
meteorologists. Heavy rain and winds of up to 100kph, which forced the local authorities to take exceptional measures, accompanied the crews as they started the rally yesterday night.

As the rain fell, Dani Sordo and Kimi Raikkonen put on a great show at the Cardiff spectator
superspecial, which took place on Thursday evening in front of huge crowds. The Spaniard set the thirdfastest time behind Loeb and Ogier while the Finn was sixth overall on the short asphalt test in Cardiff Bay.

The Citroën C4 WRCs left parc fermé this morning at 0600. The crews were heading towards Llanidloes, in the centre of Wales, for two runs over the loop of three stages that made up the day’s competitive action.

At the end of the 32-kilometre Hafren stage in the morning, Dani summed up the dreadful conditions that he had just encountered. “It’s very difficult to read the road,” he reported. “The grip is changing hugely from one corner to the next. You can find one corner with a lot of grip, followed by an extremely slippery section where you have to be a lot more careful.”

Kimi Räikkönen was also struck by the constantly changing levels of grip. “I actually thought that the roads would be a lot more muddy,” he said. “But they’re certainly very slippery.”
At the end of the first loop of gravel stages, Dani Sordo was fifth overall while Kimi Räikkönen was 10th.

In Hafren 2, Dani Sordo had a high-speed spin. The Spaniard managed to get going again with a puncture and finished SS5 with a 27.6-second time loss. By the end of day one, he was fifth overall: 48.9 seconds behind the leader.

“I felt a bit more comfortable this afternoon,” he said. “We drove well
with what was an extremely competitive car. I’m feeling confident for tomorrow. I’m going to try and set some good times in order to make progress up the leaderboard.”

Kimi Räikkönen showed more and more performance as the rally went on and consolidated his position in the top 10. “It was very difficult to judge the amount of grip,” he said. “Some places, for example, looked slippery but in fact offered quite a lot of grip. I’m still lacking a lot of experience in these conditions. My driving is improving bit by bit. We’re heading in the right direction…”

Team manager Benoît Nogier concluded: “Our opening day has fitted in perfectly with the objective of ensuring that our two Citroën C4 WRCs finish in the points, so that the Citroën Junior Team can claim third place in the World Championship rankings. Dani was able to put in some very significant performances throughout the day. It’s a shame that he lost time with a spin. His new goal now is to come back at Hirvonen and stay in front of Latvala. Kimi Räikkönen has not made a single mistake throughout the rally so far and he has set some interesting split times. It’s all very promising for the rest of the
event.”

Source:RedBullRallye

CITROËN JUNIOR TEAM, RALLY JAPAN 2010 – DAY 2

Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo enjoyed an excellent second day over the Hokkaido stages in Japan. Thanks to two fastest stage times, the Citroën Junior Team’s Spanish crew got closer to the lead.They will start the final sprint tomorrow just 15 seconds from the leader.
Increasing their pace from the first day, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström gained two places to climb to eighth overall.

Dani Sordo and Kimi Räikkönen checked out of parc fermé this morning occupying fifth and 10th places respectively. On the first stage of the day, Dani Sordo showed himself to be instantly comfortable with a second-fastest time.

He continued his progress by setting third-fastest time on the 33.76-kilometre
Kamuycep 1 stage (SS12) and then he went fastest of all on Kina 1 (SS13). In just one loop of stages, Dani had gained 22.3 seconds to close to within less than 15 seconds of the leader.

“The car feels very competitive this morning,” commented Dani. “The engineers have done a really good job to make our Citroën C4 WRC suit the conditions. We’re in the thick of the frontrunners, and it’s great fun to be fighting at the top of the timesheets!”

Kimi Räikkönen benefited from Matthew Wilson’s retirement in the morning to make up a place in the overall classification. Then the Finn grew in confidence to overhaul Federico Villagra. By the end of SS12, he was up to eighth. “I’ve had a good feeling with the car since yesterday’s lunchtime service, so we’re not making any more adjustments to the set-up,” said Kimi. “Now our aim is to keep on going like this. We have to keep trying to improve our times all the way to the end.”

In the afternoon, Dani Sordo was able to stay with the pace of the leaders. The Spaniard had planned to change the set-up of his car in order to optimise its performance on stages that now featured deep ruts after the first passage in the morning. With the help of his engineers, Sordo managed to find settings that allowed him to post another fastest stage time on the 33-kilometre Kamuycep 2 test. He added a third fastest time to his collection on Kina 2.

Heading into the final day, Dani Sordo now occupies a promising fourth place, just 15 seconds off the rally leader. “I think I lost a bit too much time on the first stage this afternoon,” said Dani. “As for everything else, the rest of the day went extremely well. We made a lot of progress and we’re in a good position for tomorrow now. The only thing we can do is push!”

Kimi Räikkönen reinforced his position by putting together a string of eighth-fastest stage times, keeping consistently with 1.8 seconds per kilometre of the leader. “As always, the second run through the stages was easier for me,” he concluded. “Experience counts for a lot on these roads. I’m very pleased with my driving. Now we need to continue like this!”

Team Manager Benoit Nogier concluded:
“Dani is in a very good position. It’s a big pleasure for us to see him so close to the leader, having set a fastest time on the longest stage of the rally. He definitely showed impressive consistency. We’re in the midst of a very exciting rally now, with five or six drivers swapping mere seconds on the stages, including Dani. Now we’re hoping that he drives as quickly as possible again tomorrow. We need to make sure that we have nothing to regret by the afternoon.

"Kimi has driven one of his best days on gravel of the entire season. That’s another source of big satisfaction for us. The target is to continue like this, with the same consistent performance from both our drivers and our C4 WRCs!”

Source: RedBullRallye

Kimi Räikkönen will be joined by Dani Sordo for Rally Finland

Following the asphalt of Bulgaria, the FIA World Rally Championship gets back to gravel with the legendary Rally Finland. For the first time this year, Dani Sordo and Marc Marti will drive for the Citroën Junior Team. The team’s second Citroën C4 WRC will be in the hands of Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström, who are competing in front of their home crowd.

For 60 years now, the 1000 Lakes Rally – which then became the Rally Finland – has been a classic fixture for all the crews. The event is often nicknamed the ‘Jyväskylä Grand Prix’ and it has featured seven times in the top 10 fastest rallies ever held in the history of the World Rally Championship. The quickest Rally Finland took place in 2005, with an average speed of 122.86 kph recorded on the event.

For the eighth round of the season, Citroën Racing has made some adjustments to its team nominations. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia join the Citroën Total World Rally Team for the first time, while Dani Sordo and Marc Marti form part of the Citroën Junior Team as team mates to Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström. The Spanish crew will also be nominated to score points for the Citroën Junior Team in Japan and Great Britain this year.

“The objective of the Citroën Junior Team is to allow young drivers to perform to the best of their abilities at the highest level,” pointed out Team Manager Benoit Nogier. “We have seen this goal being achieved with Sébastien Ogier and we are very happy for him. His results reflect the hard work that the entire team has put in since the start of the season. We hope to be at the same level with Dani, so that he too can show what he is capable of.”

Dani Sordo, aged 27, is currently sixth in the World Championship standings and has finished on the podium twice this year, thanks to third place in Portugal and second in Bulgaria. The Spaniard looks upon his new association with the Citroën Junior Team as a fresh opportunity. “I’ll be feeling less pressure,” he said. “By switching teams, I won’t always have to drive with the fundamental need to score manufacturer points for Citroën at the back of my mind. I’m going to concentrate on just doing my own rally and delivering the best performance possible.”

For the first time in his short World Rally Championship career, Kimi Räikkönen will be starting an event that he has already contested last year. In 2009, the 2007 Formula One World Champion showed some highly impressive pace before unfortunately going off the road.

“We were able to get back up to speed on gravel thanks to a good pre-Finland test,” said Kimi. “Those testing kilometres are absolutely vital on a rally like this one. The experience from last year is certainly going to help, but there is such a performance gap between a Super 2000 machine and a World Rally Car that it’s almost like driving a different rally. I’m really looking forward to getting started. When I was in Formula One, I never got the chance to race in front of my home crowd. I know that there are going to be loads of fans out in service and by the side of the stages. For me, this is a real highlight of the season!”

Source: RallyBuzz
Courtesy: Julia

Kimi: "Santander put money in so I would leave"

25/02/2010
Exclusive interview with Kimi Räikkönen to Autopista


Kimi Räikkönen caught up with Autopista during the course of Rally Sweden, where he spoke about his WRC premiere, and also hinted about his past in Formula 1, as for example the true motive behind his departure from Ferrari.

Finn Kimi Räikkönen caught up with our journalist Fernando Albes at the end of Rally Sweden, where the former Formula 1 world champion made his WRC debut. You will be able to read the full interview on the last issue of Autopista, issue 2.641, on sale now. Here we take a look at the juiciest quotes from a driver that speaks more than it seems...

Kimi, you've caused quite a stir in the rally world. Do you like the rallies better than Formula 1?

I think the repercussion is the same, I race in the rallies because I like it. I don't like it more than F1, I still like F1, but rallying is something I have always wanted to try.

How did you do in Sweden?

The snow is the hardest surface to drive on, because you can't see the driving lines, which could help you. There's still a lot to learn, but I'm getting experience with the car and with the notes, and little by little I'll begin to go faster.

Where is there more pression, here on in Formula 1?

The pression is the same for me, because it's the pressure I impose on myself.

They say you relate the arrival of Alonso in Ferrari to the money Santander put in so you left.

It wasn't me who put in the money, but Santander had something to do with it. But to me it doesn't matter.

Besides talking about more current events from the rally world in his interview, the same article offers a complete study on Räikkönen's performance in Sweden, comparing his pace with Dani Sordo's in his first ever Rally Sweden with a WRC in 2006. The results are surprising...

Source: Terra.es
Translation/adaptation from Spanish: Fran

[Video] Drivers preview Rally Mexico

Source: WRC

What did we learn in Sweden? Allow The WRC Guru to explain

So, after a four month break the 2010 World Rally Championship is finally up and running, and as the snow dust settles after a sensational Rally Sweden, it looks like the year ahead will be cracker.

Of course it's not easy to draw too many long-term conclusions after a rally as specialised as Sweden, but the performances of the top drivers on ice have given us some useful indications about how the season might pan out.

To help interpret the results here at wrc.com, we can call upon the expertise of WRC TV's stage end reporter Julian Porter - a man who spends more time talking to the drivers on the stages than just about anybody.

This unique level of rally insight, combined with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport, is why Julian is more commonly known as 'The Guru'.

So what did we learn from Rally Sweden? Here are the Guru's top five suggestions:

1: Raikkonen has passed his first WRC driving lesson
"Before any WRC season there's always a lot of hype about what's going to happen, and who's going to do what. This year was no different, except that we had another factor to consider: just how was former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen going to get on? Pushed out of his Ferrari F1 drive, Raikkonen decided the challenge of rallying was just what he wanted and I for one am delighted he's come to the WRC.

"Even after his Arctic rally warm-up, however, Sweden was always going to be a tough start for him, and anybody who thought he was going to set the world alight straight away obviously didn't understand the sport.

"Probably the best thing that happened to Kimi was getting stuck behind Khalid Al Qassimi on the first proper stage. This immediately took away a lot of the pressure to succeed. Over the three days Kimi got very well acquainted the snow shovel carried in his Citroen but remained in good humour as he learned. The experience gained in Sweden will be invaluable for future events. Well done Kimi. Welcome to the WRC and thank you, Ferrari."

2: It's advantage Mikko in the title race
"Mikko Hirvonen says losing the 2009 championship by one point made him stronger and he's prepared to be more aggressive in his approach this year. Well, if Sweden is anything to go by he's certainly following his own advice. Mikko was brilliant in all areas in Sweden and on Saturday showed Sebastien how to use the tyres to their best.

It's also worth pointing out that Mikko didn't back off on Friday night - when he had the chance - to run behind Seb in Saturday's running order. In fact, Saturday was probably the best day of Mikko's WRC career to date. What he'll manage to do in Mexico nobody knows, but with Mikko having the advantage from round one he could have set up the biggest championship fight we've had in many years. I like the look of the new more aggressive Mikko Hirvonen."

3: Sebastien Loeb has a fight on his hands for title number seven
"On the other side of the battle for the lead was Sebastien Loeb, the six time world rally champion. Seb has won on every surface in the WRC and for that reason is favourite to win every rally he enters. But he must have left Sweden thinking this year is going to be tough.

"Sweden showed us that if he wants to take a seventh title then he will have to dig extra deep. Seb made a wrong decision on when to change tyres on Saturday and nearly threw everything away with a big scare on Sunday morning. At that point he decided second on round one wasn't such a bad result and backed off. I can't remember the last time Seb has openly given up on the lead fight like that, but it just goes to show how strong an opponent Mikko was."

4: Dani Sordo is under pressure
"Dani ended the 2009 season strongly, and driving for the top team and in the best car in many ways seems to be living the WRC dream. But in Sweden we saw some of the extreme pressure that Sordo is under. Having Sebastien Loeb, one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, as your team-mate has never been easy, but now his Junior team colleague Sebastien Ogier looks to be stalking him.

"Dani needs to win a rally very soon to prove his worth. In Sweden he was good on Friday but lacked speed on Saturday morning, before that lucky escape from a massive sixth-gear spin. Things got worse in the afternoon when the radiator covers were left on and he lost his third stopping to remove them. If that wasn't bad enough, team boss Olivier Quesnel showed little sympathy, blaming Sordo for the 'stupid' mistake. Dani responding by saying it was his co-driver's job to remove the covers. Whoever was to blame, Dani must be feeling the pressure from a Sebastien up ahead and another one coming up from behind."

5: Sometimes in the WRC things just don't go to plan
"The Rally Sweden entry list was dripping with quality names in quality cars - including four former world champions; Sebastien Loeb, Marcus Gronholm, Petter Solberg and Kimi Raikkonen. Much had been made of Petter's title-winning potential this year, but it's not easy to do everything yourself and on Thursday night the pressure showed. Unfortunately for him, the mistakes on the Super Special set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Despite having the same basic machinery as Sebastien Loeb, nothing seemed to go right for Solberg in Sweden. Now he's hoping for a fresh start in Mexico. Let's hope Sweden was just an isolated 'blip' for Petter.

"Marcus Gronholm was still as popular and funny as ever, but he too wished things had gone differently. He spent Friday morning getting up to speed only to have the Focus stop on him in the afternoon. Later on he was unlucky enough to get a puncture and go off the road on Saturday. He will take some good memories though. When he announced he was coming out of retirement he said he wanted to go fastest on his favourite stage of the WRC, Sagen. In the morning on Saturday he came off second best to Loeb, but in the afternoon he was fastest. Job done. Marcus, it was great having you back."

Source: WRC

The distance by Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen, who participates this weekend on his 1st WRC Rally, doesn't have a reputation of a sociable and joyful young man. In a delightful article published Saturday, L'Equipe writes about the Finn's behaviour towards his teammates... and the journalists.


In sporting terms, Kimi Räikkönen (Citroën Junior Team), was quite pestered on Friday. First, on SS1, Khalid Al-Qassimi, who had started before him and been stalled in a snowbank, came back right in front of him, which slowed him down. Infuriating! But not as much as his misfortune on SS6, when was stuck in a snowbank himself. That costed him 26 minutes as he had to clear the car with a shovel himself! Nothing else for Kimi to do but to struggle as much with the press. "I got muscles!" he laughed with his engineer. To gather feedback from the crew, the journalists had to rely on his co-driver Kaj Lindström, a lot more talkative. An example? On Friday, while the WRC drivers answered questions in the media area, Kimi waited in his car, leaving only for a moment to grab his jacket in the trunk before returning to the wheel. So much for journalists.

Sordo: "He introduced me to his buddies, he's really nice"

On the other hand, the Citroën clan stands up for him. "With us, he's more comunicative. He's not really much of a talker, but he is quite open," assured his engineer Cédric Mazenq, soon joined by Citroën Junior Team manager, Benoît Nogier. "I wouldn't say he's joyful, but he's far from being as cold as his image suggests." His teammate Sébastien Ogier exchanges information with the ex-F1 star. "He talks a lot to me," said Dani Sordo (Citroën C4). "We did the Arctic Rally in Finland together and he introduced me to his buddies and invited me to his home. He's really nice." Eventually, the 'Iceman' decided to give his only interview on Friday. He was short and factual: "It's hard to compete with the guys who do this for a long time, but I'm generally satisfied. Even if there's a lot of progress to make."

Source: L'Equipe
Courtesy of Ramses1348, Boudica @PF1
Translation/adaptation from French: Fran

Rally Sweden day one: Manufacturer team reaction

BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team principal, Malcolm Wilson on...

Mikko Hirvonen's leading performance: "I'm very happy. Everybody likes to be leading from the start, but Mikko made some small changes to his set up on SS4 and from then on he's had good confidence. We were a little bit worried that he might have destroyed the tyres by being maybe a bit aggressive, but now we’re starting to see the benefit of his experience - he just kept on pushing to get as far ahead as he could."

Jari-Matti Latvala's contribution: "He's done a good job. On the second stage this afternoon we saw what he's really capable of, but I think he pushed a little too hard there and did some damage to the tyres. But when you see those sorts of times you see he's got the potential."

Citroen Total World Rally Team director, Olivier Quesnel on...

Sebastien Loeb's cautious approach to tyre wear: "This afternoon we thought we should take care of the tyres, and maybe Seb didn't push enough, but this is it, and Mikko was right to push."
Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier: "Dani is doing a very good rally, but I must mention Sebastien Ogier too. This is his first time in Sweden and only his second time on snow. What he's done here is amazing."

Kimi Raikkonen's learning curve: "Kimi is learning. He went off the road but as I've said before we have to give Kimi time to learn. We have to wait until the middle of the season. In the second half he should be okay, but this is his first WRC rally with us. Everybody is very fast and Sweden is very complicated. For me there is no problem. He just has to learn."

Source: WRC.com

SS1: Sordo leads after Thursday night's Super Special

Citroen Total Team driver Dani Sordo is Thursday's overnight leader of Rally Sweden after setting the fastest time through the rally opening Super Special Stage in his C4 World Rally Car.

Thousands of spectators braved sub-zero temperatures to watch the first stage of the 2010 World Rally Championship - a floodlit, head-to-head blast around a 1.9km ice circuit in the rally's host city of Karlstad.

After recording a time of 1min 34.4sec around the figure-of-eight track Sordo was delighted with his performance. "We had a really good pre-event test, as well as a good time on the arctic rally a fortnight ago and that's helped me get a good feeling in the car," he said. "I know I can still go faster if I need to, but so far so good."

Citroen Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier, also in a C4 WRC, was nearest to Sordo's time, but a full two seconds slower. "I enjoyed the stage and I like to drive in these ice conditions," he said.

A deliberately careful start from Ford team leader Mikko Hirvonen netted him the third fastest time, while similar approaches put defending world champion Sebastien Loeb fourth and Marcus Gronholm fifth.

Super Special winner in 2008 Petter Solberg, however, paid the price for a more aggressive approach. The Norwegian nudged a snow bank and later spun his C4 WRC, reaching the finish control 18.3sec slower than Sordo and without a front bumper. "I got some very, very bad oversteer, but it was my fault - I tried too hard. That's just how it is," he explained.

On his first WRC stage with the Citroen Junior Team, Kimi Raikkonen set the ninth fastest time. "That was okay," he said. "A little bit cautious but I took it easy. It's okay, all you can do on these stages is lose it."

After this evening's prelude, the proper stage action begins on Friday morning at 0818hrs, when crews tackle the first of six stages in the countryside north of Karlstad, before a return to Karlstad for a repeat of the Super Special.

[EDIT] Link to full results of SS1 here

Sources: WRC.com, Motorsport

Arctic Rally: Kimi finishes 58th overall; 2nd in his category

Citroen driver Dani Sordo has won the 2010 Arctic Lapland Rally after dominating the Finnish event. Sordo's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen put in an impressive performance, despite crashing on the first day, with a string of second fastest stage times throughout the event.

This was Raikkonen's first time driving the Citroen C4 WRC in competitive conditions and without yesterday's crash, he would have finished 6 minutes behind Sordo.

Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom commented after SS9: "The difference to Dani is now 0.9 seconds per kilometre.

"We know where the difference comes from, therefore it's a relief. It would be different if you had to think to yourself that you are going damn fast but still be behind, that would be worrying.

"We are still setting the car up so Kimi doesn't yet have 100% confidence in how it behaves. It affects the way we go into corners. We are braking early when there is ice because we don't want to do anything stupid, that's where the differences in time come from. The notes will also improve once we see how fast we can go," Lindstrom added to MTV3.

Kimi Raikkonen commented at the finish: "Once we get the car the way we want it, it will be quite easy to go faster. I don't think that it will be terribly difficult to drive faster when I know myself that the car is not going the way I want it to.

"This is the fifth rally for me so it's not really something to worry about. I learned quite a lot and it will be much better for Sweden. The main thing was that we were able to get some kilometres behind us. It doesn't matter that we finished in a lowly position," he added.

Arctic Lapland Rally 2010 Results

1. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (E) Citroen C4 WRC 1:38.29,1 (1. A18)
2. Kosti Katajamäki/Lasse Hirvijärvi (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +6.07,7
3. Jarkko Miettinen/Mikko Lukka (FIN) Skoda Fabia S2000 +7.16,1
4. Juha Salo/Mika Stenberg (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +8.06,9
5. Kristian Sohlberg/Peter Flythström (FIN) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N15 +9.12,3
6. Ari Vihavainen/Antti Piira (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +9.40,6
7. Atte Alanen/Pasi Hedman (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +9.44,5
8. Tommi Luostarinen/Risto Pietiläinen (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +9.48,9
9. Jukka Ketomäki/Kai Risberg (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +10.45,8
10. Marko Ipatti/Kari Kajula (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +10.46,9

Source: RallyBuzz

Arctic victory a confidence boost, says Sordo

A dominating performance in the Arctic Lapland rally at the weekend has left Citroen factory team driver Dani Sordo feeling more confident about his chances of success in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the World Rally Championship, which gets underway on 11 February.

Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti took an easy win on the Rovaniemi-based rally - the opening round of the Finnish Championship - which they tackled as part of their pre-season test programme.

Driving the same C4 WRC they will campaign in the 2010 World Championship, they faced little real challengers on an event which doesn't normally allow World Rally Car entries. His Citroen stable-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, was the only other competitor in a top level car, while Estonian Ott Tanak was the only other WRC entrant, in a 2003 specification Ford Focus.

Throughout the rally, Sordo didn't put a foot wrong. The Spaniard set 12 fastest times in as many stages and felt his driving on ice and snow had benefited from the experience. "I enjoyed myself so much that I would happily have driven on for a few more stages!" he said. "This weekend went well, run in perfect conditions, and we were able to carry out some useful work with the team.

"Of course, there was no real pressure. All the more reason for us to drive a very disciplined event! After looking at the data with the engineers, it’s clear that we’ve made consistent progress. That gives me a lot of confidence as we head into the new season, which is just a few days away now."

After an awkward start to his World Rally Car driving debut, when he lost more than 30 minutes after an accident soon after the start, Raikkonen completed the rally in a positive frame of mind. Throughout the two days of the rally, the gap between Dani and the Finn stayed consistent at around eight-tenths of a second per kilometre.

"Things didn’t exactly get off to the best start as we went off the road during the second stage," explained the Citroen Junior Team driver. "But luckily there was no mechanical damage and I was able to continue in the rally. From there it got a lot better for me and we were much more consistent. We put a few more kilometres under our belt, which was vital to help us continue learning the C4 WRC. As well as being pleased by our performances I was also pleased by the way we were able to work with the team.

"We developed our set-up in the right direction and now we are going to continue our work in order to arrive in Sweden in the strongest possible position."

Benoit Nogier, Citroën Racing Technologies team manager, concluded: "This practice event allowed the team to make more progress in preparation for the Rally Sweden.

Dani drove exactly the sort of rally that we expected from him. He was fast and consistent, growing in confidence on the surface that comes least naturally to him. As for Kimi, he was quickly able to put his mishap at the start of the rally behind him and get to the end of a complex event, whilst improving at the same pace as Dani."

Source: WRC

[Video]: Arctic Rally Lapland Press Conference

Thanks TaniaS and Anelise