Saturday, June 12, 2010

Räikkönen finishes an impressive second on Lanterna Rally as Ogier wins

Kimi Raikkonen clinched second place in his Citroen C4 WRC on the 2010 Rally della Lanterna, after a close battle with team-mate, and eventual winner, Sebastien Ogier

The Finn held a two second lead heading into the final stage, but he just couldn't do enough to fend off the rapid Frenchman who won by 5.7 seconds.

Ogier had been 30 seconds behind Raikkonen after four stages, but reeled him in during the afternoon and evening loops.

At the finish, Raikkonen said: "It was a great rally. Unfortunately we lost the first place in the last stage, but for us it was the first time we drove the car on tarmac and we gained a lot of experience.

"We didn't lose to such a bad guy [Ogier]," Raikkonen joked. "It was a nice rally and good learning."

Ogier said: "Kimi was very fast today and it was very difficult to catch him because this morning we made a wrong tyre choice and lost 30 seconds.

"I can complement him [Raikkonen] because he did a very good rally for his first time on tarmac [in the Citroen C4 WRC]."

The Lanterna Rally was the first asphalt event that Kimi Raikkonen had contested in a World Rally Car, it also marked the first time he had posted a stage win, led a rally outright and finished on the podium.

The Citroen Junior Team were contesting the Genoa based event as preparation for the upcoming tarmac surfaced WRC Rally Bulgaria.

2010 Rally della Lanterna - Results (top five)

1 Sébastien Ogier Citroën C4 WRC 1.32.16,7
2 Kimi Raikkonen Citroën C4 WRC +5,7
3 Ferrecchi Maurizio Ford Focus WRC +1.56,0
4 Luca Pedersoli Ford Focus WRC +3.27,8
5 Marco Strata Peugeot 206 WRC +4.48,9

Source: RallyBuzz

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