Tyre puncture bugged Kimi

Portugal is the first rally on gravel for Kimi Räikkönen's new Citroen. The start was sticky and just as Räikkönen started to find a better rhythm the tyre emptied all of a sudden without hitting anything.

– The air just disappeared and suddenly we noticed that there went our tyre. We had 11 km of the stage left. We drove the rest of the stage with the wheel and lost 1,40 minutes. If you have over 15 km to the finish of the stage, then it's worthwhile to stop and change the tyre, Lindström told.

– It was a bad thing when the tyre went. I improved my driving in the afternoon but during service break we took the wrong direction with setups. I had no grip, Räikkönen said.

– Of course it was seen during the first stage that it was a race on gravel. It was sticky but we got a hang of it around the final phase of the stage, Lindström said.

The team's mecanics had some overtime work when everything is changed so that they get the setups to hit better.

– It felt surprisingly hard although it shouldn't have felt that way. We will change the whole suspension just in case, if there is some problem with it, Lindström said.

Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Nicole

Pirelli targets 2012 WRC return

Italian tyre firm Pirelli is targeting a return to the World Rally Championship in 2012.

Pirelli has a contract to compete for at least three years in Formula One, as well as in GP2 and GP3.

But the company’s motorsport director Paul Hembery has spoken of his desire to return to take on Michelin in the 2012 WRC.

“I want us to be back in the WRC in 2012,” said Hembery. “Once those regulations are out, we will study them carefully and begin - if the conditions are right - to prepare ourselves. We have a programme of continued development to maintain our knowledge in rallying through the season.”

Pirelli will remain in the WRC this season, continuing to supply rubber to the WRC Academy – which will incorporate the Pirelli Star Driver scheme.

“We have supported the WRC since its inception in 1973 and we still have a huge passion for the sport of rallying,” added Hembery. “Yes, we are back in Formula 1, but we’re certainly not about to forget about the WRC.”

As well as supplying the WRC Academy, Pirelli recently secured a deal to equip the Citroen Racing Trophy – a one-make series present in 10 countries this year – with tyres for the next three years.

Source: MaxRally
Courtesy: luieluv