They have talked and talked about how difficult it is for a track-driver to learn to fully understand the rally-notes.The experienced co-driver Ilkka Kivimäki thinks that Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström would have survived this biggest challenge had they chosen the traditional note vocabulary instead of the numeral vocabulary.
– I think Kimi took a too long road when he went to rally with numeral notes. Jari-Matti Latvala lost with that system during his first 5 years when he began with number notes when he was very young - and he still isn't perfect with them. He still makes mistakes, Kivimäki says.
– A driver should get a proper note starting from the beginning so that he would get a more clearer image of the stages and he could also talk about them with the other drivers and his co-driver. Nobody has the energy to listen for very long when someone only talks in numbers.
61-year old Kivimäki is known as Markku Alen's prestigeous co-driver. Their co-work lasted for 20 years and started in 1974 when Alen made a contract with Fiat and needed a Finnish co-driver beside him.
Kivimäki knows how challenging it is to race with number notes.
– For me the number note works so that when someone tells me a number I have to turn it into reasonable language in my head in order to understand what it means. When someone says medium left, full left or bad left I automatically know what note it is. But when the noting-language is for example 3 changing in the end into a tight 2 and continues after that as 3 the brains have to process it and interpret all those words so that I can completely give form to what is ahead.
Kivimäki praises a lot the ability of both Räikkönen-brothers - Rami and Kimi - as drivers.
– The talent that the Räikkönen-boys have is tremendeous - no matter what vehicle you give them to drive.
– I was with Rami driving the zero-car in front of Tommi Mäkinen in Corsica and Rami immediately understood the notes. He spent no time wondering over it. I'm sure it would have gone as quickly with Kimi if he had used the regular note-vocabulary, Kivimäki thinks.
Kivimäki is well aware of how different challenge rally is for a top driver who has been driving tracks and F1 for all his life. He worked as Mika Häkkinen's co-driver when the double F1-champion drove in Tunturi-rally.
– Mika didn't waste any extra energy for controlling the car. When I sat beside Mika I wondered at first why he didn't pull the manual brake when he had a 90 degree corner ahead of him and we had at least 100 km/h of speed at that point.
– For these F1-giants that one second is such a long time that you have time to do almost anything. They aren't afraid to put themself in the game. They get through it if they keep the line. It's a different story if they don't keep the line.
Häkkinen didn't find a new career from rally.
– Mika just didn't have the energy to concentrate on the notes. He had the fire for driving but the genre required too much concentration from him and he didn't want it.
– Mika had time to listen to the notes because the driving itself didn't cause any pain. He just didn't clear up for himself just how much it takes to learn the notes properly.
Kivimäki thinks that of all the Finnish drivers from F1 Jyrki Järvilehto made the most natural transition.
– Jyrki probably had the best hunch of what kind of guy you should be to get into the speed which belongs to rally.
– What is common for all these F1-drivers is that when they have been pushing 300 on the track then suddenly 160 km/h in the forest is nothing. They have no fear. They think that as long as they get to drive themself there's no need to be afraid, Kivimäki says.
HEIKKI KULTA
Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Nicole
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