Massa's Blog: For the fans, it’s the race that counts

I’m back home in Monaco after the first race of the season where I failed to score any points and it’s fair to say, that given my previous track record in Istanbul, this was obviously a very disappointing result. I ended up eleventh, when I could have been challenging for fourth place and that was mainly down to poor pit stops. However, looking on the positive side, the aero updates we ran for the first time at this race definitely increased our performance level as can be seen from the fact that Fernando secured Ferrari’s first podium finish of the year.

Once again, qualifying was not that easy and then, as we have seen at every race this year, the car was much better in the race itself. I had an incident packed Sunday afternoon, but the first stint went very well for me and I was able to pass several cars, up to the point that I overtook Hamilton just before we pitted. This was where my race got complicated as my pit stop was not that great and we ended up side by side leaving pit lane, with him just having the edge in the end. After that, only the second of my total of four pit stops went well and Lewis went on to finish the race in fourth place, which shows what I could have been challenging for.

Even if we had a difficult qualifying and I did not even bother making a second attempt in Q3 to save tyres, the gap in terms of our qualifying to race performance did come down in Turkey, because we struggled less in qualifying and then made an even bigger step forward on Sunday, which is more proof that the car is improving. Why do we have that gap? It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason, but let’s say it just seems to be a characteristic of the car, because even last year, we had a similar situation. I think qualifying is still important, but much less than before, like in the days when it was almost the most crucial part of the weekend, when overtaking another car during the race was so difficult. Even if qualifying is less important, there is nothing disappointing about that, because for the fans, it’s the race that counts as the most important part of the weekend, so the current situation is, in my opinion, good for the sport.

As for the pit stop difficulties, I would say I had a few too many, because without them I was definitely heading for a top five finish. This was frustrating for me and for the team. We do a lot of pit stop practice, but that Sunday it just did not work properly. We will have to study the problem and try and be more consistent, because in a single stop, just a small delay in changing wheels and you can lose position, as happened to me in Istanbul. The pressure on the pit crew is now very great, because not only are they having to be perfect several times during a race, but also since the banning of refuelling, they no longer have that time cushion changing wheels, while waiting for all the fuel to go in. We all have to improve ourselves, drivers included, because our role in the pit-stop operations is very important as well.

Today I am in Rome for a convention run by our technical partner Shell and then for the last two days of the week, I will be in Maranello, in meetings with the engineers and of course, spending time in the simulator; all part of our efforts to keep on pushing to improve our car, because with two more races coming up in the space of two weekends, we have to react as soon as possible to turn our season around. I mentioned the simulator just now and so I would like to wish a speedy recovery to Davide Rigon, a young driver who does a lot of work for us in the simulator and who unfortunately broke his leg in an accident in Sunday’s GP2 race in Istanbul.

Source: Ferrari.com

SEBASTIAN VETTEL'S IN SCHUMACHER CLASS

Lewis Hamilton paid Sebastian Vettel the ultimate compliment yesterday by comparing him to seven-times world champ Michael Schumacher at his best

Sebastian Vettel tightened his stranglehold on this year’s championship on Sunday when he won his third race in four starts with victory in Turkey.

He has a 34-point gap on Hamilton, with McLaren team-mate Jenson Button 47 points adrift.

Hamilton won the previous race in China, but was 40 seconds behind Vettel in Istanbul and said:

“Thirty-four points is a very big gap at the moment. He was cruising in Turkey. I’ve got to be on the ragged edge to try and get every little step I can.

“It’s very similar to when Schumacher was dominating. Now Sebastian is dominating – pole position at all four races this season, and he’s nearly won all four.”

With Vettel scoring 93 points from a possible 100, and given the resources available to Red Bull, there is already talk the championship could be over by mid-summer.

But Hamilton added: “I don’t have a fear that will happen, but it is possible. But it is also possible we could catch up and overtake them.”

Source: Daily Star

KIMI FINISHES RALLY GREAT BRITAIN IN THE POINTS

Red Bull Wales Rally Great Britain day three report

So this is where the remarkable WRC journey ends for Kimi Räikkönen in 2010, after 11 rallies contested and five points finishes, making a total of 25 points and 10th in the drivers' championship at the end of his debut season.

In just one year, the 2007 Formula One World Champion has become the fifth most prolific points-scorer in the illustrious history of the Citroen C4 WRC: a car that has claimed more than 600 fastest stage times throughout its four seasons of competition, one of which was set by Kimi on the Rallye Deutschland in August.

Kimi has made a bit of rally history, becoming the only Formula 1 World Champion to score World Rally Championship points or set a fastest stage time. This year, the Finn also took his very first rally win, at a national event in France, and visited new countries that ranged from Mexico to Bulgaria. It's been an incredible story that has captured the imagination of the entire motorsport world.

Kimi is known as the Iceman because nothing bothers him: especially not a brand new challenge that would send most people running for cover. He is well known for being fearless in the car but he is just as determined out of it, having taken on the biggest bet of his career thanks to Red Bull. Nobody has ever tried to switch full-time from Formula One to rally before, but there and again not everybody is like the Iceman....

The learning curve has been so steep that it is practically vertical, and Rally Great Britain was one of the most complicated events of the year thanks to rain, wind, mud, fog and even a small cyclone called Carmen: a bad weather front that has swept across northern Europe.

Nonetheless, Kimi did not make a single serious mistake on any of the 20 gravel stages and 359 competitive kilometres, to eventually finish in a points-scoring eighth.

"It's been a really good rally and it's nice to end my first season in the World Rally Championship with a points finish," he said. "This has definitely been the most challenging year of my career and Britain was one of the most difficult rallies that I competed on, mostly because of the grip changing all the time. The roads were really slippery, but it's always been a question of trying to work out exactly how slippery they are. Like everything else, this has been a completely new experience for me. Looking back on it, this season has been more or less as I expected it to be: we've made a few mistakes but we've also learned a lot. The stages in Wales are really nice, but as always you need experience to be really quick on them.

Generally speaking I'm happy with the progress we've made on this rally and I've had a lot of fun as well, so I'm very grateful to Red Bull and Citroen Racing for all the opportunities that we've enjoyed this year."

A key part of Räikkönen's swift adaptation to a completely new discipline has been his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, a former winner of the Monte Carlo Rally, who has been alongside the Iceman since Kimi first started rallying for fun last year.

Before then, Lindström sat alongside four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen and he sees a lot in common between the two Finnish legends.

"They certainly have the same determination and natural speed," said Lindstrom. "For somebody with so little experience, Kimi has taken everything in his stride and made a lot of progress on both gravel and asphalt, as well as with the pace notes. It's clear how much he has improved and there's plenty more still to come. On this event Kimi has been really impressive with no mistakes at all, so it's been a great way to finish the season."

Source: RedBullRallye

Korean GP - Massa: “still a lot of points to be won”

Felipe Massa met the media in the grandiose setting of the newest paddock on the calendar, which is reminiscent of the giant facility in Shanghai, although not quite as big. Could Ferrari come out on top this weekend was the first question put to the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver. “I think it is too early to say,” he responded. “We need to wait and see how we will get on tomorrow to have a clearer idea, especially as this is a new track which means things can either be exactly what you expected or the exact opposite. There are all types of corner, including those where we know our car works well and others of the type where we have suffered a bit in the past. The long straight means it will be important to have a good top speed and also very strong brakes for the slow corner following the straight. What I can say is that I like what I have seen, as there are so many interesting corners and changes of direction which is not always the case at other tracks. I reckon it will be nice to drive, however let’s hope everything goes well enough for us to be fighting at the front.”

There is no doubt that everyone is looking forward to Friday practice with more interest than usual, given this a new venue and Felipe explained the difficulties this poses for all the teams and drivers. “The track will be very dirty tomorrow and we need to see how the track surface reacts, but our car has gone well on so many different types of track, that I don’t see why it would not go well here too,” said the Brazilian. “Of course, I expect the Red Bulls who have been strong everywhere, to be strong here also. So for us it is important to do a good job and get a good understanding of the circuit to find the right direction to work in as quickly as possible. That does not mean we have to find the right set-up by tomorrow, because from tomorrow to the day after the track will change completely.” The Brazilian has done all he can to familiarise himself with the new track prior to actually driving it tomorrow. “I did a day in the simulator back in Italy and I also drove the track on the Playstation game and yesterday, I went round it for real on a bicycle, stopping at every corner to check out the kerbs, the asphalt, what the corner looked like, what gear we should use according to the simulator.”

And finally, the championship hopes for the Scuderia? “It will be difficult for us to fight for the title, but with three races remaining there are still a lot of points to be won and therefore we still have a chance.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Montezemolo: Massa needs to take points off rivals

Luca di Montezemolo has outlined Felipe Massa's duties for the remainder of the season: to take points off Fernando Alonso's rivals

With four races still be run and a 100 points to play for, Alonso is second in the Drivers' standings, 11 points behind Championship leader Mark Webber. But they are not the only two drivers in the race.

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button all still have a shot at winning the title with Button in fifth place just 25 points off the pace.

Alonso, though, has an advantage over his title rivals as the Ferrari driver is the only man involved in the chase who can have his team-mate working for him instead of against him.

And that's exactly what Ferrari's president wants Massa to do.

"I have waited for Felipe with great perseverance in the last four races," Montezemolo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I want a strong Massa who will shave points off the rivals. In Singapore he had some bad luck, but he is in good condition to win.

"Those who race for Ferrari don't race for themselves, but for the Ferrari team colours. One who wants to race for himself will have to face his team."

The Ferrari President also insisted that the Scuderia's decision to put their efforts behind Alonso as early as the July's German GP when they implemented team orders in the Spaniard's favour, has been justified by his run to second place in the Drivers' standings.

"First of all, the decision to focus on Alonso has been proven to be right. He is extremely strong and very close to the team, and has been able to blend in well from day one despite the concerns of some.

"The second is the spirit of determination of the team that has never been broken and disjointed, it has shown great ability to respond and fight back and knows how to win even under pressure.

"The third is to have also focused on people like (Stefano) Domenicali and (Aldo) Costa who have proven be absolutely vital."

Montezemolo pointed to Ferrari's pedigree in recent years as a sure sign that the Scuderia have what it takes to win Championships.

"I've been thinking about one thing and I invite you to do so too: from 1997, if we exclude the year 2005, we either won the Formula 1 World Championship or we lost it in the last race.

"Ferrari has always been team to beat. We won eight Constructors' World Championships in the last ten years, it was important for me to reach the highest levels in Formula 1 this year as well.

"We're second and we will contest the Championships until the very end."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel: Points gap is not that dramatic

Sebastian Vettel insists the 24-point gap between himself and Mark Webber is not as big as it looks as he bids to become Red Bull's first World Champ

Vettel and his team-mate Webber are just two of the five drivers still involved in this year's title fight with Webber leading the way on 187 points while Vettel is the final driver in the running with 163.

However, the German, who has claimed seven pole positions but only two race wins this season, is adamant the gap is not as big as it may appear.

"Whether I'm not 24, 25 or 30 points behind I still could not care less. The new points system scares people more than necessary," Vettel told the Bild.

"Many are not yet familiar with it and that a win counts for 25 points. If I was eight or nine behind with the old system where there were ten for a victory, then it would all look much less dramatic."

Vettel, though, has had a mixed season, coming for a great deal of cricitism as a result of two high profile accidents.

The first saw him take out his team-mate in Turkey while in Belgium he crashed into McLaren's Jenson Button.

But despite the complaints, which had McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh labeling him a "crash kid", the Red Bull racer says he has not once doubted his ability to win the World title.

"In peace lies strength," he added. "We are not panicking but continue to work quietly.

"I believe I can win the title and that is crucial!"

Source: Planet-F1

I made a good recovery at Spa – Mark Webber

A small mistake in his RB6's set-up cost Mark Webber the win at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. But luck was on the Australian's side once again as he dug in and fought back to claim second place after slipping to seventh place. He talks us through his race...

Given my appalling start in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix from pole position, I was very happy to finish second. At the exit of turn one I was back in seventh, so 18 points was a great haul in the circumstances.

As is so often the case at Spa-Francorchamps, the whole weekend was blighted by rain. Prior to the race, I'd done only a handful of laps in the dry, so there were still a lot of question marks regarding car set-up as we lined up on the grid. But it was the same for everyone.

As soon as I released the clutch at the start of the formation lap, I knew immediately that there was a problem. The car bogged down as I pulled away from the line, so I made some small adjustments to the settings to try to fix the situation, but it didn't work. When the lights went out, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and cars streamed past me.

Luckily, the run to turn one is quite short at Spa and that limited the damage the others could inflict. As I've already said, I only dropped back to seventh; if the same thing were to happen at Monza in a couple of weeks time, the boxing gloves will have to come out because it's a really long run to turn one.

'My dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and cars streamed past me'

I still had to knuckle down and work my way back into contention, which was pretty enjoyable. The car was handling well and I had a good fight with Adrian Sutil on the run-up to Les Combes on the opening lap before pulling a nice move around the outside of Felipe Massa at Rivage for fifth. Then the first safety car came out after Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso collided.

We all lost tyre temperature behind the safety car and that made it pretty difficult when the race went green two laps later because the car felt pretty loose.

I didn't gain any places at the restart and a small group of us were then held up by Jenson Button, which allowed Lewis Hamilton to get away.

Events came to a head on lap 17 when my team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Button collided. Button retired on the spot and Seb dropped to the back of the field, which promoted me to third place behind Hamilton and Robert Kubica. I tried to jump Robert in the pitlane – and the Red Bull Racing mechanics did a great job to turn me around in 3.6sec when I pitted on lap 22 – but it wasn't enough and I had to wait until the second round of pitstops to gain the position.

All the leaders pitted together for intermediate tyres when it started to rain three-quarters of the way through the race. The pitlane was very slippery and Kubica overshot his pitbox, which gave me my chance: the Red Bull mechanics did a fantastic job once again and second place was in the bag.

The race had a twist in the tail, however, when Alonso crashed on lap 37 and brought out another safety car.

At the restart, I was right with Hamilton, but I didn't have the legs to pass him up the hill to Les Combes – and I wasn't about to risk anything stupid because second position was a great result given the weather conditions and my messy start.

Source: Red Bull

Kimi's Column: Fastest stage time and some points

Kimi German Rally Review

For sure, it’s a nice spice of this sport every single rally being so different from each other.

Obviously I didn’t have a clue what to expect from German Rally. In the end of the day it did not have that much to do with the real tarmac rallies. The roads were very dirty and some parts we had on gravel, too.

The main thing for us was to finish the rally. We did that, we got all the important miles eith the race speed plus we got more points to our total, too.

Once again I learn more of rally driving. We made a couple of mistakes and you cannot change that afterwards. I have to learn everything by myself and while making a mistake you always learn the most.

Before the rally many people asked me how much easier it is for me to have a rally on asphalt after racing in circuits for such a long time. Well, I can tell you, it’s not that huge advantage for me in rallies on tarmac. In Germany it felt great to go fast there. The roads were narrow and you have keep the focus at the peak all the time.

It was not easy. No question about that. Again, I had to search the right rythm in the beginning.

This is a very challenging rally and good for us, it’s over and done. Well, I made two mistakes on Sunday morning and because of that, Wilson managed to pass us and got the position six. I had a bad feeling for some time for loosing some points, but all in all, it’s important to keep on going with the patience and remember that making mistakes belongs to the process of learning rallies.

The pace notes worked quite well. The was no problem with that side it felt nice.

This was my third ever tarmarc rally with this Red Bull Citroen C4 car and my second WRC asphalt rally. I’m satisfied with gaining a lot of more experience from the asphalt rally driving. Im also happy for gaining my first ever fastesr stage timr in WRC rallies. I don’t know how much the top guys slowed it down in the last stage, but for a racing driver, the fastest time is always the fastest time.

Now we have a short break again. The nest rally in calendar is Japan and we don’t have any test before that. Obviously Japan will be very difficult for me as a rookie. I have heard that those stages are quite tricky.

But we keep on trying to do our best and let’s wait and see, what kind of speed we find there. Once again my target is to finish that rally, too.

Source: Kimiraikkonen.com

Räikkönen scores again in Portugal

F1 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen returns to WRC action in Portugal and once again puts his Citroen C4 WRC in the points

Former Ferrari and McLaren F1 man Kimi Raikkonen came through to score points for the third event in succession on Sunday in Portugal, despite a pretty scary moment in the final loop.

Raikkonen, who of course only started rallying last year and who missed the last round of the World Rally Championship in New Zealand, ran in the top-ten throughout in his Citroen Junior Team-run C4 WRC, setting top ten stage times in twelve of the eighteen tests.

Heading into the final loop he was up to eighth, however, the repeat run through the 21.28 kilometre Felizes test almost proved his undoing, and when he hit something and picked up a puncture, he slipped back down to tenth.

Despite losing two places though, the F1 2007 world champion was still happy to get to the end and he finished on a high by setting the third best time in the short 2.03 km Estádio Algarve super special.

"It's been a really tough weekend, but this is all part of the learning process," said Raikkonen. "The other drivers have been here for the past three years so it's hard to be on their pace. My only objective though was to finish the rally and gain more experience, so we have fulfilled our goal here.

"The last day was particularly difficult, as the handling of the car did not feel right, so we decided to play it safe. Then we hit something on the side of the road just after the start of the first stage in the afternoon. We cut a corner and the car went onto two wheels. We risked rolling, but the car landed back on its wheels and we picked up a puncture.

"After that, I just wanted to be sure of making the finish. There was nothing more to gain apart from another points finish. Overall I've really enjoyed the experience of driving here: this was actually the first time I have ever been to Portugal and it is a really nice country, with very friendly people."

Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom meanwhile was again impressed with the ex-F1 star. He also added that they are continuing to refine and improve their pace notes.

"Like everything else, they are getting better all the time," Lindstrom explained. "We changed a couple of things and increased our experience in a few vital areas. With changing levels of grip and so many blind corners, it's really not been easy for Kimi but he's kept his cool throughout the rally and made a lot of progress. I've been really impressed with both his driving and his attitude."

Raikkonen now heads to Austria where he will take on Polish bike star Taddy Blazusiak on the fearsome Erzberg hillclimb course. Blazusiak will be on his trials bike whereas the 'ice-man' will be racing in the Red Bull-liveried Citroen C4 WRC car.

Source: Crash.net
Courtesy: MomoD

Raikkonen "knew that it would be difficult"

Kimi Raikkonen scored his first WRC points in Jordan and Turkey. The Finn knows he's progressing but remains aware of the gap separating him from the best

Kimi Räikkönen, in his fourth rally with the Citroen Junior Team, during last weekend in Turkey, made his first top 5. A beautiful performance for the F1 World Champion 2007, pleased to see his progress race after race. "I'm getting better everywhere," he acknowledges to AUTOhebdo this week. "You know very well what are the steps! Everything happens at once. Little by little, everything seems both better and easier. "

However, the Finn knows he still lacks the level of attack that his car provides him. To progress, Kimi Raikkonen has decided not to take risks, a strategy that allowed him to score his first points. "What counts is to accumulate kilometres, to be at the finish line. The points are the consequence. Their number depends on the race events that affected the best drivers. In Jordan, I found the specials so difficult that I have never taken risks. My points were due to simply being at the finish. In Turkey, it was not quite the same thing. I simply tried to drive. Then I was able to regularly take on Villagra and Wilson. This is not the "top" yet, but it's some satisfaction."

However, the Finn faced severe difficulties, as in the Rally of Jordan, where the complexity of the surface forced him to go at a modest pace."Jordan, I found it horrible. The roads are blind, and tortuous. I felt lost. I really wanted to be at the finish and for this to happen, I had no other choice but to be slow. "

Kimi Raikkonen thus learns step by step, in a discipline that he discover with every kilometre. "I knew it would be difficult. It's not worse than what I expected. Except in Jordan. There, I really suffered." But, as he remains lucid, the Finn is nonetheless ambitious. "I know the depth of the gap that separates me from the top. I know that I have just succeeded in getting intermediate lap times comparably to theirs. All I have left is to multiply these moments. I'm progressing, but fifth, six minutes behind, it's not what I want. "

Source: Autohebdo.fr
Translation from French: Fran

A fast journey home crowned Kimi's rally

Turun Sanomat 18.4 2010

Kimi Räikkönen has taken ten WC-points when winning a F1-grand prix. From Turkey Rally Kimi also took ten WC-points when bringing his Citroen C4 WRC-car 5th to the finish.

A indisputable progress and flawless performance raised these ten points to the level of a winning-atmosphere.

Citroen Junior Team's boss Benoit Nogier thanked Räikkönen's performance and speed of progress.

- Kimi is going forward with speed. Now he has succeeded to run away from those drivers with whom he still faught at the beginning of this race. This is very encouraging progress from Kimi as a rally-driver, Nogier praises.

Räikkönen's good weekend was fulfilled when the flight back home was organised on Sunday-evening on a private jet from Istanbul to Nizza, from where he drives back home to Switzerland.

Speed of progress in order

Co-driver Kaj Lindtröm was once again pleased when the star-student is improving race by race at least according to the most demanding exceptations.

- Of course this kind of result is good when Kimi doesn't have much of experience in rally. It wasn't flawless, but almost. On a few stages the engine stalled at the same intersection , but that was it.

The Turkey Rally, which was taken to a new route, gave Räikkönen and Lindström also a good situational review.

- At this point of Kimi's career-development one don't have to wonder anymore what is the difference to the top when the rally-route is unfamiliar to everyone. I didn't yet calculate the different stages but it probably lies around 1 second, Lindström said.

A part of the routes was driven on tarmac, which was the third element where Räikkönen is driving for the first time on a WRC-car.

- I was probably too careful on tarmac until I realized how much grip there were. I'm pretty satisfied with my pace, Räikkönen said.

According to Lindström experience can't be called tarmac-driving.

- We drove on gravel settings and gravel tires. It is a totally different thing when we drive the first actual tarmac-rally in July in Bulgary, he reminded.

Naturally Räikkönen's end result was maximized by the set-backs experienced by the two drivers who belong to the top 6, Dani Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala.

- Of course others' unfortune helped but it belongs to the spirit of motorsport, Räikkönen reminded.

Braking on the last stage

Sunday's ending stage was according to Räikkönen the most difficult of the weekend. There Lindström had to brake [slow] the driver, so they stayed on the road.

- The last stage was more than slippery and very difficult. It had to be taken carefully so that the race wouldn't get a bad ending, Räikkönen explained.

There is a one week pause ahead. Räikkönen won't participate in New Zealand WRC-rally and will drive next in Portugal at the end of May.

Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Leijona

Kimi: I was sliding a bit in a few points

Kimi Räikkönen continued his impressive run in the Turkish WRC rally

Kimi Räikkönen is firmly attached to the sixth position of the Rally of Turkey. Federico Villagra, who is driving in seventh position, is 32 seconds away and Sebastien Ogier is ahead by well over a minute.

-Well yeah, it went okay. We improved a bit again from the morning. That's the main thing. It's difficult to make comparisons to other people when you don't know what you're comparing. There's no point in comparing ourselves to the top drivers yet, said Räikkönen at the end of the day shivering in the chilly Istanbul weather.

In Turkey Räikkönen has been able to try rallying on asphalt for the first time. The surface is familiar to Räikkönen from F1.

-It's not proper asphalt driving with those tyres. It was also a bit wet on the penultimate stage. It was damn slippery. We came pretty calmly. I was sliding a bit in a few points.

If Räikkönen makes it to the finish line in one piece and keeps his sixth position he will collect eight championship points.

-We'll try to keep the position. A lot can still happen. Let's see what we can do.

Six more spacial stages will be driven on Sunday.

Source: Iltalehti.fi
Courtesy: Dracaena

KIMI: WHAT IS FOR SURE IS THAT I LIKE CHALLENGES

Kimi Räikkönen's next WRC-rally is in Turkey

The rally is the 3rd rally on gravel in Räikkönen's career. Therefore the man hasn't got too much of experience. Fortunately Räikkönen has never feared challenges.

- I guess it's a good thing that I like challenges because there's a big challenge ahead of me again, Räikkönen talked.

- IMO Jordan's rally was the most difficult so far but I have no idea what it's like in Turkey.

- The number one goal is to finish the rally because it's a completely new race. But because I'm a competitive person I always want to drive as good as I can.

Kaj Lindström believes that Turkey will suit Kimi better

- I don't really know what we can expect but according to my information the stages are pretty fast and the roads are wide. I think they suit Kimi well, Lindström thinks.

- My only concern is the risk for rain. It's the same for everybody but rain would make the surface extremely slippery which wouldn't be that nice.

An even rally in Jordan made Räikkönen happy even though his pace suffered a bit.

- In Jordan we found a safe pace which isn't necessarily the most exciting thing in the world but at least we finished the rally and scored points, Räikkönen tells.

Source: Iltalehti - MTV3 - Courtesy: Nicole

Kimi Jordan review in Finnish: THROUGH THE TOUGHEST WAY

If I were to use hockey-language then a monkey fell off my back when I crossed the finish line in Jordan rally. We finally did get there and it was cool that we opened our bag of points at the same time.

In icehockey Teemu and the gang say that the monkey is falling from the neck when they make a goal after a long time. Now I know myself what it feels like and also the relief after squeezing for a long time and getting the result you want, in this case getting to the finish line.

Kaitsu and I had good feelings on Saturday when we finished the rally without any own mistakes. It's the first step until we can set other goals.

Jordan was a hot place. But it was a surprise in itself that during the stages it was even 'cool' inside the car. The air changes well and while driving you don't even notice the heat. The sweat was flooding - but mainly only after the stages.

We drove my toughest rally and the longest SS that I have ever taken with a rallycar. 41,5 km twice. It was beforehand a stage where you were thinking 'does it ever stop'. But after the stage the feeling in the end was 'did it already stop'! Great stage!

This is a great job and when we reached this result you start of course waiting for better in the future. You really can't work on this alone. Kaitsu has taken care of the jobs with a 10. Thanks to him I have got so quickly into the rally-business. We both had good feelings when our third WRC-rally with this car fell into place like this.

The bosses looked like they were really satisfied with this race.

The car is strong. It's a winning car. I felt the whole weekend that I'm more and more used to the surface. I wait with a 10 to see how the next gravel rally goes. I'm sure that Jordan is a cool place but we have such a tight schedule during our trips that we don't have time to go to museums. But at least I had time to float in the Dead Sea. Quite an interesting experience. We left home right after the race.

Now it's a little rest and training. Next week we will go to Turkey and put a new worm to the hook again.

Courtesy: Nicole KROF

Raikkonen set for more points, says team chief

Kimi Raikkonen’s team boss believes the ex-Formula One star’s points’ finish on the Jordan Rally will be the first of many in this year’s World Rally Championship.

Raikkonen finished eighth on the gravel event last weekend in his Red Bull-backed Citroen C4 WRC. He is now 11th in the drivers’ standings, one place behind Super 2000 World Rally Championship pacesetter Xevi Pons.

Benoit Nogier, who runs the Citroen Junior Team, said: “I am very happy for Kimi to finish with this result. He drove very well on this rally and getting the car to the finish in one piece was very important. The fact he scored points was the cherry on the cake and I believe this will be the first of many occasions when he is in the points this season.”

Source: MaxRally
Courtesy: TaniaS

2010 RALLY JORDAN: FIRST WRC POINTS FOR KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN

In Finland, children celebrate Easter by handing out decorations and twigs in return for a bit of money.

Other Finnish families grow rye grass in pots and then place eggs in them. Kimi Raikkonen instead celebrated Easter by racking up his first points finish in the World Rally Championship, ending up eighth overall on only his eighth-ever rally.

And where could be more appropriate to enjoy Easter than the actual place where Jesus Christ was baptised? The 'Baptism Site' stage on the final day of the Jordan Rally was repeated twice, taking the crews past the place on the Jordan River where the world's most famous baptism took place.

Back in those days - and occasionally in the modern age - baptisms were performed with people fully immersing themselves in the water, which occasionally led to an ironic death by drowning. As recently as January this year, at least two people were swept out to sea during a baptism ceremony in Africa, going to heaven rather sooner than they had planned.

Kimi - who was actually baptised as Kimi Matias Raikkonen - concentrated on keeping his car on the road and out of the water in Jordan. The Iceman's reward was his best-ever finish on the World Rally Championship, after a mistake-free drive that helped his learning process considerably. The 339 competitive kilometres of the Jordan Rally marks the longest time that the former Grand Prix champion has ever spent in a rally car on gravel, and now he is looking forward to more action in Turkey at the end of the month.

"From the beginning my goal was to get to the end of the rally and I'm really pleased that we've been able to do that even though the conditions were difficult," said the Red Bull driver. "As the stages went on I've learned more and more, and my confidence has grown bigger as well. We came to Jordan with very little experience of the car on gravel and now we've practically doubled it. I'm getting to know the car better now, but the important thing as well is that I've really enjoyed these three days. We're making progress, which is why we are here, and hopefully this will continue on the next round in Turkey."

Kimi's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom also enjoyed his first visit to the Jordan Rally, scoring his first points as a co-driver since finishing third with the legendary four-time World Champion Tommi Makinen on the 2003 Rally Great Britain.

"It's been a very good event for us," added Kaj. "Kimi's speed has been really impressive for someone who has hardly been driving any rallies at all: he's already doing the same sort of times as people with much more experience. The key to this event was just making sure that we got to the end with no mistakes – and this is only the start. We're going to be seeing a lot more of Kimi in the future..."

Source: Red Bull Rallye

Kimi Räikkönen: Rally vs. F1, which one is better for the Iceman?

Képes Sport is comparing Rally-Kimi to F1-Kimi

Here’s a competition, the winner, we know already. Despite this fact the competition is not over yet because we compare the past and the future. Though to choose between F1 and rally is not easy we still try to compare the 2 Kimis.

Excitement

Rally-Kimi: 1 point

There’s no secret in it, Kimi was bored in F1. After 9 years of racing he didn’t like it that much towards the end, like he used to dig it in the beginning. The rally though is completely different: the natural surrounding, the challenge on the more longer weekends, the diversity of the grounds and the absolutely new technical challenges are all there to cheer Kimi up, who, at the age of 30, would feel happy about working again. But, let’s not feel sorry for him for his past…

F1-Kimi: 0 point

Going flat out with a couple of hundred horse powered car doesn’t belong to the boring things. Overtaking at 280 km/h isn’t depressant, fight for hundreds of a second during qualifying on Saturday afternoons surely is not an unstressful relaxation. Despite of all these F1 is too sterile, too sacred compared to rally, everything is foreseeable and the laboratory circumstance is not so exciting for the pilots.

Money

Rally-Kimi: 1 point

Let’s admit, nobody would ever think even for a second that this valiant Finn multimillionaire has switched one sport for the other because of the money. First at McLaren later at Ferrari he had earned sidereal amount of money, he has been in the close elite group of the most richest sportsmen for years, he has been given 10 million euros for the early exit from the Italians so earning 3,5 million euros for rallying doesn’t lift his estimated 100 million euros possessions that much.

F1-Kimi: 1 point

You can earn royal amount of money in the pinnacle of motorsport, especially in the „dominant categories” that Kimi had been the part of from the very beginning of his career. Moreover, he had belonged to the part of the most privileged. In the group with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who could get what they wanted. But as we know it, at this level the money is not the most dominant factor.

Hype

Rally-Kimi: 1 point

Rally has giant fanbase. Let’s lay it down because people would think that it’s just a tolerated little brother compared to F1, at least in Hungary. But at a rally event there are a couple of 100.000 spectators and a former F1 world champion’s switch to rally surely can raise the interest. Just an example: the Finnish MTV3, that broadcasted Kimi’s first WRC event, could produce its history’s 3rd biggest attendence during the rally weekend, while the championship’s official homepage has reached a record-braking amount of 8 million viewers.

F1-Kimi: 2 points

Nice, nice but despite of all our good intentions we cannot say that the two sports are in the same level at least if we are talking about media interest. The „Flat-out circus” is worthy of its nickname because the participants surely can count on the constant and searching attention. So the point is here, though we would inaudibly like to mention that this is a positive thing in Kimi Räikkönen’s case.

Work

Rally-Kimi: 2 points

To specify, the plus work that comes with the driving. From that, the rally drivers have more than enough because while driving in the beautiful nature you can easily mess up a corner or after a bad flying you have to turn around the car on the road by hand or get it out of a hole. Besides the danger is constant, if you have a puncture there’s no external help, on the track the driver and the co-driver have to grab the lever or use the wheel nut key.

F1 Kimi: 2 points

At the beginning it must have been quite strange that if something went wrong on the track you just had to drive into the box and dosens of mechanics started to work on your car. In F1 pilots have nothing to do but driving the car (it’s not slim though), in rally the challenge is much more complex.

Chance

Rally-Kimi: 0% (2 points)

"As a sportsman this has to be my biggest challenge, I have to learn everything from the very beginning. I know that the 4 best pilots’ pace is unattainable, but no one would think that Sebastien Loeb could beat Sebastian Vettel right away in F1." Well, if the concerned himself is thinking about it this way then why should we argue with him? Knowing the fact that at his 2 WRC races so far (Sweden and Mexico) he couldn’t get any points.

F1-Kimi: 3 points

Had he stayed in F1 he could have had the chance to finish in the points at every race – and not just because of the reform of the point system. Kimi was doing his job at a half-mind throughout the season last year but without a doubt he belonged to the probable winners every time. During his 9 years' career in F1 18 wins, 579 points and one world championship in 2007 has not been achieved by accident so these facts could be a good starting point for the experts to count him among the probable winners in every year. If the „if” wouldn’t be there…

Supporters

Rally-Kimi: 3 points

One certain point at the previous chapter, one certain point here. It’s fair this way. And it’s rightful because competing with the rally fans is not easy. In snow (Finland or Sweden), in hot weather (Mexico), in the mountains (New Zealand) or in the dust (almost everywhere) – they are everywhere near the tracks. Even at the very hardly accesable points, with hours of tough walking, even in the mountains they are near the tracks, sometimes too near. Bravery, fanaticism, tenacity – they can get a point for this.

F1-Kimi: 3 points

The F1 supporters are spoilt „English Ladies” compared to the rally fans, if we may say so. Though they can be ready for a couple of hours walking through the fields in the hot weather (Hungaroring), soaking in the rain (Sepang) or brave the elements in Bahrein in the middle of a sandstorm but it is much more comfortable and safe to sit on grandstands and support the drivers from there throughout the race weekends.

Pleasure

Rally-Kimi: 4 points

We could tell at the beginning that drawing a conclusion won’t be easy. Mainly because this category is here to decide between rally and F1. Well, in our opinion and especially in this case the rallying could get more points: the new tracks, the new challenges, the new oponents are bigger challenges for Kimi than he had stayed in F1. And for a sportsman a bigger challenge is the pleasure itself.

F1-Kimi: 3 points

Well, the decision was not that obvious because competing with the world’s fastest pilots with the world’s fastest cars can’t be named as a boring activity. Going flat out at the first incisive corner after the starting line at 300 km/h, to endure the G forces during 1,5 hours of racing, to reckon where to brake or where to overtake, these are certainly can raise one’s adrenaline level. We still think that rallying gives Räikkönen much more pleasure than F1 so with a big finish the rallying is the winner.

Source: Képes Sport

Courtesy: Kinga Planet-F1

FIA introduces new WRC points allocation

Motorsport's governing body, the FIA, has modified the championship points system used in the World Rally Championship, so that more finishers in a rally are awarded points.

Under the new system, which will come into force this week in Sweden, points will be allocated to the top 10 finishers (rather than the previous system's eight) according to the following scale:

1st: 25 points
2nd: 18 points
3rd: 15 points
4th: 12 points
5th: 10 points
6th: 8 points
7th: 6 points
8th: 4 points
9th: 2 points
10th: 1 point

The decision to adopt the system was taken on 9 February, after the FIA put the matter to a fax vote of competitors. It was also approved by the members of the World Motor Sport Council.

Even though more points are available under the new system, with 25 awarded for first place rather than 10, it would not have altered the 2009 drivers' championship classification had it been introduced last year.

Source: WRC

F1 teams approve new rules

F1 commission approves a change to the regulations regarding tyres for the 2010 season, while new points system is also confirmed

F1 teams have approved a change to the tyre rules for the 2010 season, which will force the top ten qualifiers to start the race on the same tyres they used to set their quickest qualifying times.

The proposal was agreed during the latest meeting of the F1 commission on Monday, with the decisions announced by the FIA set to add a new strategic element to qualifying during the year ahead.

It will lead to teams needing to evaluate how to approach qualifying, with the possibility that teams will sacrifice going for a quick time by using a tyre that will be better suited to the race. Alternatively, teams could use a tyre that will allow them to secure a better grid position but then face the prospect of being disadvantaged when race day arrives.

The teams have also agreed to reduce the number of sets of dry tyres available from 14 to eleven per team, with further changes to encourage cars to take part in Friday practice. Under the new rules, one set of tyres must be returned before the start of second practice, and two sets before the start of third practice.

A revised version of the new points system was also approved during the meeting, which gives a greater advantage to a driver winning a race.

Under the agreed plans, the winner of the race will secure 25 points with the runner-up taking 18 – a difference of seven points as opposed to the five initially suggested.

The points system for 2010 will reward the top ten drivers and run 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.

Further measures for 2010 are to be examined.

Further down the line, teams have agreed to effectively ban the controversial double diffuser from 2011.

The aerodynamic device proved to be a bone of contention during the 2009 season as a number of teams – including title winners Brawn GP – were able to exploit the rules to run the device from the start of the campaign, leading to a number of protests from other teams before the device was declared legal.

Under the new regulations, the permitted height of the main diffuser will be reduced from 175mm to 125mm.

Source: Crash net