PR manager to IS: Räikkönen is OK

According to the Kimi Räikkönen's PR manager Riku Kuvaja, the hospital trip was mainly a precautionary measure.

Kimi Räikönen was forced to abandon his plans to attend the motorcycle trade fair held in Helsinki in connection with the planned launch of his motocross team project.

Instead of the exhibition centre Räikkönen ended up in the hospital because of stomach symptoms. Raikkonen was in the Meilahti hospital, located in Helsinki on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.

-Yes, that is the case, Räikkönen's PR manager Riku Kuvaja confirmed to IS on Friday.

Kuvaja did not want to go into the details, but confirmed that the hospital trip will not affect Räikkönen's future plans.

- Kimi is ok. It was not too serious, it was food poisoning or some other stomach illness.

- The hospital was visited just in case.

Räikkönen's World Rally Championship season starts in Sweden next week.

Räikkönen's hospital trip was first reported by MTV3 on its web page.

Source: Iltasanomat
Courtesy: sleenster

Kimi Räikkönen was rushed to hospital

The Formula One World Champion spent Wednesday and Thursday night at the Meilahti Hospital in Helsinki

Kimi Räikkönen was forced to seek hospital treatment due to stomach flu or food poisoning.

– I confirm this information. But we do not want to comment on it any more, said Kimi's PR manager Riku Kuvaja to MTV3.

The illness and a night spent in hospital will not affect Kimi's preparation for Rally Sweden next week.

- Kimi will carry on completely as planned for Rally Sweden. This week's events will not affect those plans in any way, Kuvaja underscores.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Sleenster

Kimi Räikkönen returns to the public after a period of mourning

Kimi, who lost his father tragically before Christmas has not appeared in public since the beginning of the year

The mourning period is now officially behind us because Kimi will return to the public on Thursday, February 3 at the Helsinki Fair Centre.

At that time the MP 11 motorcycle trade show will begin at the exhibition centre, where Kimi and enduro legend Kari Tiainen's common motocross team ICE1 RACING is represented. A press conference outlining the team's goals this year is arranged in connection with the exhibition.

During the coming year Kimi's time will be taken up by the motocross team and also by the World Rally Championship series which starts on Thursday, February 10 at Rally Sweden.

– Kimi returns from a break now and the work will begin on Thursday next week, Kimi's PR manager, Riku Kuvaja tells to MTV3.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: sleenster

Kimi on Ice in Helsinki 2010

Source: Anelise30

Kimi Räikkönen at Vesku Premiere in Helsinki

Source: Anelise30

Finnish tabloid claims: Ziigmund and Kimi Räikkönen "played for hundreds of thousands"

A Finnish tabloid magazine is claiming that Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and the race car driver, former Formula One World Champion Kimi "Iceman" Räikkönen recently played a huge poker game where hundreds of thousands were on the line. Ziigmund and the Iceman say they did play but just for fun.

The Seiska magazine claims that Räikkönen challenged Ziigmund to the game in Helsinki in June and that the F1 champion first won approximately €500,000 from the pro before losing it back.

Another Finnish tabloid, Iltalehti, got hold of both men for comments and they deny the rumor about the sums in play.

"Sure I play poker, but those claims are not true," Räikkönen is quoted as saying. His agent Riku Kuvaja adds that the stakes were "a few euros" maximum.

Ziigmund's comment is along the same lines. "Nah, it was just for fun. Let's say we played just for matches," Ilari said.

Räikkönen's agent says his client is not particularly experienced in poker. The two men have met before, but this was the first time they played together.

Iltalehti draws rather colorful comparisons between the two men, saying they both have "a close relationship with alcohol" and listing some of their drunken feats: Räikkönen has fallen off from the deck of his boat, taken out his penis at a strip club and physically attacked Michael Schumacher, while Ilari "once lost 1.3 million euros in one day because of a hangover".

Naturally, if Ziigmund had the chance he would probably love to play for "hundreds of thousands" with a rich amateur player like the Iceman, whose reported income in 2008 was 30 million euros - not quite as much as Guy Laliberte's but plenty for a friendly game with a real poker pro.

Source: Coinflip.com
Courtesy: _TaniaS_

Hirvonen challenges Räikkönen to race in Helsinki

Mikko Hirvonen and other rally drivers will relax in August in a motor race held in Helsinki's Kalasatama.

There will be a real gathering of champions on the first weekend of August in Helsinki's Kalasatama. Of the WRC top drivers in addition to Ford's Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala also Petter and Henning Solberg and Sebastien Ogier have promised to participate, and so has MotoGP driver Mika Kallio.

Former world champions and other pentioners will be represented by Tommi Mäkinen, Markko Märtin, Juha Kankkunen, Timo Salonen and Markku Alen.

”We're supposed to be driving similar vehicles that were used in China in the race of champions, that is open rear-engine circuit cars, buggys and Legends cars”, Hirvonen, who is one of the organizers, tells STT.

The event, which takes place a week after the WRC rally in Jyväskylä, will climax on a final driven on Sunday. Sebastien Loeb, who leads the championship, is too busy to take part in the event but Kimi Räikkönen's participation is possible.

”An invitation has been sent but we still haven't got a reply”, says Hirvonen.

Hirvonen was in Helsinki on Wednesday to present the event and he will immediately head to New Zealand where the fifth WRC rally of the season will be driven in a week.

Hirvonen is third in the WRC series, 41 points behind the leader Loeb.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat
Courtesy: Dracena and Moominpappa

Kimi Räikkönen in Helsinki for DNA Event

RÄIKKÖNEN: I WASN'T THINKING WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT OF ME

Kimi Räikkönen still divides opinions on the F1-paddock.

Some couldn't take at all Räikkönen's cool way of taking things while some again felt really warm for Räikkönen both as a human being and as a driver. The Iceman didn't care what others did.

- I didn't think much about what others thought of me. And I didn't think of them.

- It worked for me although others wanted to think more. Everybody out there are their own persons, Räikkönen analysed the F1-drivers.

One who remembers Räikkönen with special warmth is Sauber's technical manager Willy Rampf.

- He was the best driver I have ever worked with. I still respect him very much, Rampf told in Autosport's interview a while ago.

- Rally is probably the same as F1 was about 20 years ago. They do things professionally in rally but the going is completely different, Räikkönen compared.

- Less people and a more relaxed grip in everything, he summed up.

Source: Ilta-Sanomat

KIMI OPEN: WHEN I'M 40 I WILL ONLY DRIVE FOR FUN

Kimi Räikkönen offered a rare treat on Tuesday in Helsinki when he arrived to his sponsor's event.

The DNA-commercial starred by Kimi was shown to the invited guests in Tennispalatsi (a movie theater). Before they showed the commercial he answered to Anette Latva-Piikkilä's questions.

Kimi was in a good mood and relaxed when he remembered his times in F1 and also veiled the smokescreen concerning his future. Anette asked Kimi where he sees himself in 10 years.

– Well my career has been quite long already. Of course a lot depends on the next few years but I haven't thought about driving seriously at 40. It could of course be that I would drive in some serie just for fun, for the joy of driving. But I'm sure that it's not a full-time job so I guess this ends at some point, Kimi confessed.

Kimi answered about what he is going to do next season.

– The scale hasn't gone over to rally, no decisions have been made yet. We do what feels most sensible.

Source: MTV3
Courtersy: Nicole

Press conference in Helsinki, March 18th, 2010 Heikki Kovalainen

Yesterday I made a quick visit to Helsinki to meet with the Finnish media and announce my partnership with Fonecta, the most popular service directory provider in Finland.

Source: YouTube @ OfficialKovalainen