Loeb gives 4-5 rallies as learning time for Kimi

Turun Sanomat 7.2 2010

Sebastien Loeb, rally's six-time champion and winner of 54 races, Sebastien Loeb believes the new contender Kimi Räikkönen's competitiveness will be solved during the season's first 4-5 rally-races.

- If Kimi can't reach proper times in the first 4-5 races, one can draw a conclusion that it will be really difficult for him to stand out from the mass, Loeb said in a recent interview.

- I don't believe it will take many races for Kimi to be able to show his speed. When most of the special stages are driven for a second time that can give Kimi a certain benefit.

Loeb doesn't question the F1-champ's adaptability.

- Kimi's fantastic career development in F1 gives you a that kind of image that he could be very fast in tarmac rallies - like in Catalonia. But as Kimi comes from Finland, he could be fast also on other surfaces such as snow and gravel, where there isn't that much grip, Loeb ponders.

It's good to train in Finland

Loeb believes that it would be easier to transfer from rally to track rather than from being a so called "speed-driver" to rally-races.

- On track one can get a good time with a good car when you follow the lines and driving-lines carefully. In rally it is more difficult to get such a competitive pace as the notes are so important and every time you will have to know how to improvise.

- I would imagine that learning and understanding the notes is not easy at all for Kimi. But he has a good opportunity to coach himself and learn to hear the voices inside his helmet. There is enough forests in Finland and in the middle of forests there are small roads where Kimi can drive kilometer after a kilometer and get used to the notes properly.

But what kind of image does Loeb have before the WRC Sweden about the Citroen Junior Team's driver called Kimi Räikkönen?

- At this point I know what every other rally-expert knows. Last summer in Jyväskylä in Finnish WC-rally Kimi didn't drive bad at all. He lost with Fiat Grande Punto a second per kilometer to his own class' top.

- I don't believe it will generate difficulties for Kimi to change from Super 2000-class to WRC-car. Only making notes in completely unfamiliar rallies is the thing what everything depends on, Loeb weighs.

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

[Video] Kimi Raikkonen Arctic Rally Start Rovaniemi

Source: YouTube @mogyi61

Raikkonen revelling in new challenge

PARIS (AFP)

Finland has produced a long line of great Rally drivers but never one quite with the pedigree or potential of 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

The 30-year-old former McLaren and Ferrari driver, known as the 'Iceman', has opted to forego the massive wages on offer on the Formula One circuit to have a tilt at capturing the world rally title this season - the first leg gets under way in Sweden next Thursday.

It is a decision the impassive unemotional Finn - though his readiness for laughs extends to competing in a powerboat race dressed as a gorilla under the pseudonym James Hunt in honour of the late Formula One champion (gaining his team the award for best dressed group) - is not regretting making.

"This is a different challenge," conceded Raikkonen, whose older brother Rami is a rally driver, when the pilots came together for a press conference in Paris earlier this week.

"This is a different challenge," conceded Raikkonen, whose older brother Rami is a rally driver, when the pilots came together for a press conference in Paris earlier this week.

"To be frank I am more interested in this than Formula One. Even when I was testing my Formula One car I never paid any interest to the times of the other drivers," added Raikkonen, who will be racing for the Citroen Junior team.

Raikkonen, who was released by Ferrari at the end of last season and replaced by Fernando Alonso despite a year remaining on his contract, said he preferred the atmosphere and camaraderie around the Rally paddock to Formula One.

"This is very nice and more open than in Formula One," said Raikkonen, who had 18 wins in 156 starts in Grands Prix with his first coming in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix.

"The teams are more friendly with each other. It's great.

"It (the Rally stables) is very small. The people are closer in terms of personal relationships.

"Of course the challenge is different as in Formula One you are racing against each other, whereas in Rallying it is racing against the clock," added Raikkonen, who has raced in one previous leg of the series, the 2009 Rally of Finland, which he failed to finish.

Raikkonen, who had an offer from McLaren which broke down over financial terms and didn't fancy a move to Toyota, admitted he didn't expect to make an immediate impact.

"Everything is new. I don't know the places or the stages," he confessed.

"It's always exciting. You have to learn everything, gain experience and in all sorts of conditions. Also writing the notes on each stage and the direction to take is extremely important.

"I am learning from zero. With the notes, you have to write them so you can understand them. If they are not legible you make mistakes."

Raikkonen, who when he first joined Ferrari replacing seven-times champion Michael Schumacher was on 51million dollars a year, also was at pains to downplay the rumours that this year was a means of breaking him in so he could step up and be six-time champion Sebastien Loeb's team-mate.

"There are always stories like that. I just want to learn and we'll see what happens," he said.

Raikkonen also insisted that thoughts of him winning the title were overly ambitious.

"It would be great to win but let's wait and see what happens," he said

I don't really know what to expect, I want to get into the points first and later in the season we can work on getting the car to go faster."

Source: Yahoo News

WRC Rookies 1 - Kimi Raikkonen

There's a new Flying Finn in this year's World Rally Championship, in the shape of former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Having decided to put his circuit career on hold for a while, Raikkonen will make his World Rally Car debut next week in Sweden, driving a C4 WRC for the Citroen Junior Rally Team, partnered by co-driver Kaj Lindstrom.

Ahead of him this year is a 12-round programme with the French manufacturer, and the chance to test his skills against the best rally drivers on the planet.

At the launch of the World Rally Championship in Paris on 2 February, Raikkonen talked EXCLUSIVELY to wrc.com about the challenge ahead.

What are your ambitions for the season ahead?

First of all we have a lot to learn from the rallies, and that's not going to be an easy challenge. We did one rally last weekend and it definitely helped us going to Sweden. We'll just take things from there. We need to do our best, learn as quickly as we can and hopefully get some good results."

Will you be disappointed if you don't get a podium this season?

"I don't know, because it's too early to say. Like I said, we need to learn a lot. Hopefully at some point we can be really fast. But at the moment I don't know what to expect."

What are you looking forward to most this season?

"I would say everything, because everything is new and completely different to Formula One. At this stage it's all exciting; it doesn't really matter where we go or what we do, it's a new thing."

What is it about driving a rally car that you find so appealing?

"For me the thrill of driving is all about the challenge. And in rallies there are so many variables - like different conditions, different roads and different surfaces - that there is a big challenge. When you go on a stage, things can change from corner to corner so much and it's just a great feeling to drive the car when it's like that. There are a lot of things you can learn. For instance, in a rally you might have to master three different types of conditions. In Formula One that's not the case."

How do you get faster in a WRC car?

"You need experience and a lot of practise and testing. It takes time but I guess more kilometres will the main key to improvement. Also I need to learn the notes and be able to listen very well. They're the main things."

How does the WRC compare to F1?

"It's a completely different world. The events themselves are different and the people are different. At this launch, with everyone together, there seems to be a more open and easy relationship between the teams and that's one of the very nice things about rally. There is also a sense that the sport is picking up. There have been maybe some difficult times but it looks like everything is turning better and in the next couple of years it should be even more popular that it is now. It's quite strong."

Are you serious about rally?

"Yes. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't serious. Anytime I start something new I want to learn, and try to do the best I can. It's something that's going to be a big challenge and I'm looking forward to it."

Are you looking forward to any rallies in particular?

"In this car everything is new this year. Finland is the only one I know a little bit, so in that way that should be the easiest one, but what I learned there last year is that it's a tricky place. Asphalt rallies will also be nice; I'm looking forward to seeing how the car handles."

What about a return to F1? At what point in the year are you going to have to make that choice about what you do in 2011?

"I have set no deadlines on myself. Let's see how things are going. I really enjoy it here now, and if it's like this then maybe I stay or maybe I try something else. I have no plans, no deadlines yet. Let's see what happens."

Source: WRC

THIS IS WHERE KIMI WAS PARTYING IN ROVANIEMI

Night club Doris:

After his WRC-debut in Rovaniemi, Kimi Räikkönen relaxed after a hard day's work in Rovaniemi's freezing night.

Kimi was seen partying in Doris-nightclub in Rovaniemi center. The arrival of Finland's biggest celebrity to the restaurant created buzz among the other partying people.

–Of course people took many pictures of him and his entourage. Many also went to ask for his autograph, Viihdeuutiset was told.

Kimi was partying with a big entourage. The entourage was about 15 persons including also his co-driver Kaj Lindström and his team mate Daniel Sordo who came with his own co-driver. MTV's rally reporter Anette Latva-Piikkilä represented the entourage's female beauty.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1

Race-engineer praises Räikkönen’s detailed work

Kimi Räikkönen’s race-engineer, Cedric Mazenq, in Citroen Junior Team thanks the Finnish driver for giving very detailed feedback on the rally-car’s settings.

In F1 Räikkönen is used to set up his car very precisely.

- He notices a lot of details because he has learnt in F1 to do detailed work. He is able to help the team improve the car, Mazenq says to MTV3 about what kind of first-impression Räikkönen gave him.

Citroen-team has offered in Arctic-rally many different kinds of set-up options for Räikkönen to try out so that the Iceman gets experience on what kind of adjustments are best for him.

- This rally is a test for Kimi. It is follow-up for the test we drove last week in Jyväskylä area. The goal of this rally is to find the initial settings for the Swedish WRC-rally, Mazenq emphasizes.

For Arctic-rally the Citroen-team’s goal has been to make Kimi a car that is the easiest possible to drive.

- In the beginning the most important for him is that he gets confidence in his car. This is a new world for him. We do our best so that we help him learn about the car, the route and the notes. There are a lot of differences between rally and F1 but he is taking them with an open mind, Mazenq tells.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Leijona @OF

ICEMAN = NICEMAN

Anette Latva-Piikkilä: Racegirl's blog

If Kimi hadn't slipped yesterday during SS2 he would have been 2nd in Arctic Rally.

It's nice to say 'if'. And Räikkönen also had a nice time. During maintenance breaks Kimi was circulating around his car like a falcon. He was very interested about what changes they made into the car and he spent a lot of time with his engineer's.

Kimi's engineer Cedric Mazenq praised Kimi a lot for his sensitive touch to his car and good feedback. They offered Kimi many different setups during this weekend so that he could choose the one he liked best.

The fact is that Kimi has now taken part in 5 rallies. He was about one second behind Sordo. It really wasn't a bad start for a WRC-driver. And because the car still wasn't like Kimi wanted it to be we can wait for his pace to improve. Kimi is therefore a driver who develops.

Here in Rovaniemi there are now many Kimi-fans. Kimi took his audience on the podium and got enormous applauds from his fans.

Will Iceman get a new name while the season goes on?

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1

Kimi Räikkönen Interview From YLE in Arctic Rally Lapland

Source: YLE - YouTube

Kimi Räikkönen in Artic Rally Lapland

Source: MTV3 YouTube

Kimi Räikkönen Interview From MTV3

Source: YouTube @Anelise30