Kimi's Column: The last day's speed the best

Kimi Rally Finland review in Finnish 2011

That was my third Jyskälä. I got 9th position and first WC-points from my home race. The weekend was okay, but once again it became clear that it's a difficult rally, seriously, it's one of the most difficult rallies.

We had a tricky start. We took it a bit too carefully. I couldn't find the rythm, no matter what. Then at the last day it started to go well. In the morning the times were probably the best we have got the whole year. I'm sure that the pace was more or less the pace we have at this point.

Then the racing stopped on the second Leustu SS.

There was a rock in the track. The wing's bottom hit there. The car jumped a bit, we spinned and there was somekind of a fence. First we thought it had only touched, but that's where it halted. The rear touched and the front hit the fence.

After that we didn't have a wing anymore, and when there's no wing the air goes straight under the car. Since the front bumper didn't work, there was nothing we could do in the corners because the front is taking off all the time, in every direction. All air goes underneath and and twists the rear tyre.

Without this fuss we would probably had been a few positions better in the endresults. We would have gone past Henning Solberg. But it's nothing. This time it just went like this.

I'm totally satisfied with the last day, we tried to even drive. It felt at once that we are in ok speed.

Now we have done five rallies this year and finished and scored points each time. You get good vibes when you feel that every rally has gone better than last year.

Now we go from gravel to tarmac. We test a couple of days in Germany and are better prepared for Germany's rally in a few weeks.

We haven't drove at all on tarmac with this car. In testing we will see how it goes, but usually these Citroens have been quite good on tarmac roads.

Source: KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM
Courtesy: Nicole

Räikkönen's perfomance was praised by experts

Räikkönen is not considered to be any morning person but this time he started very flashy both on Friday and especially on Saturday.

On SS17 the Citroën bumped into a stone and crashed with the rear first in a wooden fence.

– The front bumper was twisted and the air started going under it. When I went a little bit faster, the front started to go in every direction and didn't want to stay on the track anymore. There was no sense in driving fast when the front went in every direction, Räikkönen said.

However the perfomance was classy. Appreciation for Räikkönen only grew bigger in experts minds.

– Of course as a Finnish viewer I would rather see Kimi going on with winning in F1, but things are like this now. Kimi is in a position where he can drive whatever he wants. He wants to drive rally and everybody knows that that boy controls cars. He will improve as a rally driver when he learns the notes so that he gets everything he wants out of them, Lasse Lampi thought.

– One shouldn't look at it so that one only stares on positions and says, oh, Kimi is 8th again. I observe Kimi's driving in a completely different way and I think his performances are better than I could have expected, Rauno Aaltonen said.

– Kimi shows a good control of his nerves and mind when he stays on the road. Rally on this level is in any case a battle and when you are on the limits, the marginal for making mistakes is always bigger. I take my hat off for Kimi.

Aaltonen wondered over Olivier Quesnel's statement that spread on the websites, about him being disappointed with Kimi's pace.

– I think it was a wrong verdict. One has to understand that people drive on different stages with different speed. A human being isn't a machine. For some a fast road is good, some again are at their best on very curly roads. It depends completely on motor function, the muscle's function and the way one thinks about where to look, Aaltonen said.

Turun Sanomat, Jyväskylä

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Petter Solberg and Kimi Räikkönen finish in the points

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson finished in fifth place in Rally Finland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. This result has helped them to consolidate their fifth place in the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ ratings. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström confirmed their recent improvement in form with a ninth-place finish on home turf after a very promising drive.

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson were soon among the quickest and took fifth place in the overall classification in the short first leg on Thursday afternoon. The Petter Solberg World Rally Team crew got past Jari Ketomaa and went into fourth behind Loeb, Ogier and Latvala during the long day’s stages in Jyväskylä and Lahti. The Norwegian was always on the lookout to find ways and means of improving his performance till the finish, and he saw the flag in fifth place overall.

“I pushed throughout the whole rally,” said Solberg at the finish. “We tried to improve the car by changing the setup during the weekend, but we were not able to match the pace of the leaders. The result’s rather frustrating. Now, we’re going to concentrate on the next event in Germany on tarmac.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström, who already showed a promising turn of speed in the previous rally in Greece, confirmed their progress in Finland. The ICE1 Racing driver started his third Rally Finland at a searing pace only a second per kilometre off the reference time, and finished the first leg in thirteenth place. He lost precious time due to a minor error on Friday morning. On the way back to Jyväskylä he got back into the rhythm and moved up to twelfth. Iceman’s confidence was now at full boost, and he upped the pace even further in the home stretch by overtaking his nearest rivals and finished in ninth place.

“These roads are as quick and as difficult as ever,” underlined the Finnish driver. But we still managed to set good times. I’d like to thank the many spectators who cheered us on during the weekend. We were able to maintain a good pace throughout the whole rally despite a few minor mistakes. It’s encouraging for the rest of the season.”

With both Citroën DS3 WRCs at the finish, Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies team manager, was pretty satisfied with the team’s overall performance in Rally Finland: “Kimi’s made a lot of progress since last season. He’s showing promising steadiness and he’s on the right track. Above all, he’s now getting used to finishing the rallies in the points. It’s both satisfying and very encouraging. Petter Solberg’s rally is more disappointing as he lacked speed. We’ll have to analyze what happened to find out why we were slower than the front-runners. He’ll have the right equipment to shine on tarmac in Germany.”

Source: Citroën WRC

Räikkönen was driving experience over really well

Kimi Räikkönen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom says residues driving WRC Rally Finland on Saturday morning leg.

Raikkonen was the morning's fast lap in exactly the same pace as the 2003 world champion Petter Solberg identical Citroen car.

- Kimi drove really well. Yes, he knows how to drive. It just always seems to forget the representatives of the media that a career is only 24 rallies. In relation to it, he drove really well, Lindstrom praised MTV3.

Is today's rate reflects the fact that Raikkonen can develop a winning rally driver?

- The last seconds per kilometer at the top is a miniature steps. There does not go by leaps and bounds, Lindstrom acknowledges the realities.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Mar

Kimi's Column: The third time

Well, it’s flat-out time once again. Hopefully I’ll find the best feeling with driving straight away from the start. This is the rally, where you need to get the right rhythm on since the very beginning of the special stage one, while we go so fast.

This is the rally I’ve been looking forward the whole summer along. The home race is the greatest of them all for every racing driver. This is my third time in Rally Finland and, obviously, this is the rally, where we have the most experience so far.

Twice I have started the rally in Jyväskyla. This time the first day is a little bit different compared to previous ones, but the most remarkable change is day two, while we go to new roads in Lahti area.

I think it’s good to have experience of two rallies here. We know some roads, some are there for the first time, but, all in all, they are very fast roads and it’s a huge challenge to get them right.

The test and the preparation for this rally went very well. I’ve been training hard both with bicycles and in the gym. We had a nice rally show downtown Helsinki, too. Obiously, my feeling is great and I just cannot wait to get things going on.

We have had good results this year in all the rallies we have had so far. This gives me a solid boost to my confidence to keep the car on the road.

The work with the pace notes has been improving all the time. Listening to the pace notes goes better and better. Still, it’s a huge challenge for every rally driver.

My goal is to finish the rally without major mistakes. Two years ago we had a D.N.F. and last year we finished, but I made too many mistakes, still.

Hopefully this time we get everything right and improve again like we have done in every rally so far.

To finish a rally is always a good achievement and especially it’s a great achievement in Jyväskyla, in the fastest rally of them all.

All I can promise is that we try our very best. Let’s wait and see, what it brings along this time.

Source: KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM
Courtesy: _TaniaS_

Loeb quickest in Finland shakedown

Sebastien Loeb has set the fastest time in shakedown for Neste Oil Rally Finland, round eight of the 2011 World Rally Championship

Driving a Citroen DS3 WRC, the French ace set a benchmark time of 1m35.7s through the 3.19-kilometre Ruuhimaki practice stage this morning.

“It’s important I score some points, that’s the main thing here,” said the seven-time world champion. “Whether this [time in shakedown] is a sign of things to come I do not know.”

Loeb’s Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier was second quickest with a time of 1m36.3s. Jari-Matti Latvala, the winner in Finland in 2010, was the leading Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver in third overall with a time of 1m36.6s.

Latvala and fellow factory Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen, who was eighth quickest, are among the favourites to win the gravel event this week. Despite being outpaced by the rival Citroen squad, Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson said the results of shakedown wouldn’t determine the outcome of the rally.

“We’re less than a second off Sebastien so that’s okay,” said Wilson. “Our drivers are really happy with the set-up they’ve got on their cars and didn’t need to do more runs or try and set faster times.”

Ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who is starting his third Rally Finland, was seventh quickest in his ICE 1 Racing Citroen. The Finn completed six runs in shakedown and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom was satisfied with their performance. “Everything was okay, no problems and we had a good feeling,” he said.

Kris Meeke was 11th fastest in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC. After the shakedown his mechanics had to replace a broken windscreen, which a team representative confirmed had not hampered the Northern Irish ace’s progress.

Priority drivers are required to complete a minimum four runs of shakedown. Russian Evgeny Novikov, who missed out on a pre-event test, completed nine runs to fine-tune the set-up of his M-Sport Stobart-entered Fiesta. He was sixth quickest.

Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen was the fastest Super 2000 World Rally Championship runner in his PS Engineering Skoda Fabia. Ukrainian driver Oleksandr Saliuk set the Production Car World Rally Championship pace at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer.

Here are the top 10 times from the Shakedown session:

1. LOEB. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:35.7
2. OGIER. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:36.3
3. LATVALA. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:36.6
4. P. SOLBERG. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:36.8
5. OSTBERG. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:36.9
6. NOVIKOV. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:37.0
7. RÄIKKÖNEN. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:37.1
8. HIRVONEN. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:37.4
9. WILSON. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:37.4
=10. SORDO. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1.37.6
=10. MEEKE. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1.37.6

Source: WRC

Solberg, Räikkönen revved-up to shine in Finnish forests

Behind the wheel of their respective Citroën DS3 WRCs, motorsport heroes Petter Solberg and Kimi Räikkönen will doubtless be two of the most popular draws on this weekend's Rally Finland

Citroën duo Petter Solberg and Kimi Räikkönen are fired-up to produce a strong performance on Rally Finland this weekend and are sure to be amongst the crowd's favourites on what is widely-regarded as the most spectacular event on the World Rally Championship calendar.

Since the most recent round of the 2011 campaign in Greece last month, Solberg has been enjoying a well-earned rest to recharge his batteries, but the former World Rally Champion is now pumped up to shine in the high-speed, treacherous Finnish forests through which average speeds in 2010 measured 120km/h.

Nicknamed 'The Grand Prix of Gravel', the eighth outing of the season boasts the largest entry of any of the rallies thus far in 2011 with 125 cars, and is characterised by a series of fast-and-flowing, smooth gravel stages with big jumps – meaning drivers need to place total confidence in their co-drivers.

Add to that a buzzing atmosphere provided by the throngs of enthusiastic spectators lining the stages, and Solberg – who has twice finished on the podium in twelve previous appearances on Rally Finland, albeit not since his title-winning campaign of 2003 – is eager to get going.

“It was good to have a few weeks off between Greece and Finland,” confessed the 36-year-old Norwegian. “I have spent time just being with my family, and of course we have done some cross-karting. I also really enjoyed the flying-high experience in Switzerland with Breitling – that was really amazing!

“Finland has always been a great event for me. I really enjoy the stages, the atmosphere and just being in Jyväskylä. We spent two days testing in the area, and I hope the 300 kilometres we did will help us get the best possible set-up for all the stages.”

Like experienced fellow Scandinavian Solberg, 2007 F1 World Champion Räikkönen will benefit from the support of Citroën Racing Technologies behind the wheel of his Citroën DS3 WRC in Finland. The Finn currently sits eighth in the drivers' title chase – three spots behind Solberg – and the pair have spent two days apiece testing in preparation for the upcoming hostilities.

“We worked in similar conditions to those of a works team,” reported Benoît Nogier, Citroën Racing Technologies team principal. “There was a combination of humps and wide, quick sections. The roads were comparable to the ones we'll race on [on Rally Finland].

“Our drivers were a bit worried about how the car would handle at very high speed, [but] this test session has reassured them about the balance of the DS3 R3. Petter was very happy with our set-up. We did a good job to help him start Rally Finland as a potential victory contender. The fact that he's got to grips with the car means he can tackle this rally in a confident frame of mind.

“Kimi loves his country and his rally. He really enjoyed his two-day test, and he got the car to handle to his liking. He has a logical approach. He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm. We hope he'll drive a consistent rally and close the gap to the front-runners.”

Source: Crash.net

Sami Hyypiä as co-driver of Kimi Räikkönen at Rally Finland?

Liverpool FC's former top player Sami Hyypiä is having a different summer, because after long time he has time to enjoy the Finnish summer. Hyypiä will visit at Rally Finland and he might get as co-driver of Kimi Räikkönen.

- I will have a busy week in front. Champions League first on Wednesday in Helsinki, and then to Jyväskylä to see, how Finns are beating others at rally, Hyypiä told to CANAL+.

"I'm too scared to get behind the wheel - but maybe I'll be co-driver"

Big surprise is Hyypiä might get into the rally car, but not as a driver. Hyypiä has connections to Kimi Räikkönen. Hyypiä was in Holland with Räikkönen on April, looking ICE1RACING team racing, which Räikkönen owns. Is it about Räikkönen giving a ride for Hyypiä?

- I'm too scared to get behind the wheel - but maybe I'll be as co-driver, Hyypiä told.

Source: RacingNewsFlash

Räikkönen tipped to shine on home rally

Kimi Räikkönen has been tipped for a strong result on Neste Oil Rally Finland, which gets underway with the first of 22 special stages on Thursday evening (July 28)

The ex-Formula One world champion is tackling the event for a third time this season and Benoit Nogier, whose Citroën Racing Technologies operation runs Räikkönen’s ICE 1 Racing Citroën DS3 WRC, has high hopes for the Finn.

“Kimi loves his country and his rally,” said Nogier. “He really enjoyed his two-day test and he got the car to handle to his liking. He has a logical approach. He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm. We hope he’ll drive a consistent race and close the gap to the frontrunners.”

Nogier explained that Räikkönen and fellow Citroën Racing Technologies driver Petter Solberg tested on roads similar to those found on this week’s World Rally Championship counter.

“There was a combination of humps and wide, quick sections,” said Nogier. “Our drivers were a bit worried about how the car would handle at very high speed but this test session has reassured them about the balance of the DS3 R3.”

Räikkönen made his WRC debut on Rally Finland in 2009, impressing in an Abarth Grande Punto Super 2000 before ultimately crashing out. Last year, armed with a Citroën C4 WRC, the 31-year-old was eighth overall at the completion of the opening day but slipped back to 25th at the finish after spending 10 minutes off the road.

Co-driven by fellow Finn Kaj Lindström, Räikkönen has made four appearances in the WRC this season and has scored drivers’ championship points on each occasion. He holds eighth position in the standings, while ICE 1 Racing is fifth in the manufacturers’ table.

Source: WRC
Courtesy: momo

Photos: Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastien Loeb at Red Bull Show Run Helsinki

Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastien Loeb during Red Bull Show Run in Helsinki today













Source: MTV3 Iltalehti

Videos: Kimi Räikkönen testing before Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011

Kimi Räikkönen testing ICE1 Racing´s Citroën DS3 in Hauhanpohja Central Finland for the upcoming classic event WRC Neste Oil Rally Finland 2011







Source: amjayes and Anelise30

Räikkönen: I could get to drive in many places if I wanted to

Räikkönen doesn't yet know what he will be doing next season. He says he has many options.

- It's great to get to drive on roads like these too. The roads are even and there aren't any bigger bumps, Räikkönen said during testing.

- Actually we have only had one day to test before each rally. So not very much but it hasn't bothered much.

When talking about Citroen:

- There's no difference. Same people and same scheme. The name is different and the car has a different color. Actually the car is more closer to a factory car than last year, now that they have new cars and classifications.

Räikkönen assures that the pace is getting better while he gets more experience.

- Of course experience is a big part. We have been driving for a year and something about 16 races. It's quite less than those who have drove for 10 years. No wonder that the top goes fast but we have been closing in on them all the time.

- The notes are also in a decisive role. You see it when the rallies you were in last year are much more easier now. We have notes ready that we can improve, Räikkönen tells.

Comeback in F1 is completely possible although Red Bull recently torpeded the rumour of Räikkönen going there. Räikkönen laughs at the writings.

- I have had a chance to do whatever I want. And if I would want to go back, I'm sure I could go back. We haven't yet decided over next year, if we even drive anywhere. There have been stories in the papers for as long as I have raced so I don't care about what they write.

Räikkönen keeps his future in secret. Or then he really doesn't know what he is going to do next season. Yet he assures that he has many doors open.

- Of course many things would have to happen in the right directions but I would get into quite many places to drive if I wanted to, Räikkönen says.

YLE Urheilu
Courtesy: Nicole

Kimi Räikkönen Jyväskylän MM-rallissa 2010

Source: vomitg

NESTE OIL RALLY FINLAND 2010: KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN OFFICIAL WEB SITE

Source: KIMIRÄIKKÖNEN.COM

WRC Onboards: Finland 2010: Raikkonen Crashes on SS12 Requested by kriusa666123

Source: WRC

Kimi's Column: ONE DITCH TOO MUCH

Kimi Rally Finland review in Finnish

We finished the rally. We got the kilometers we had set for our target but didn't take the points. It bugs because there were a few small misses and we couldn't stay in the bunch of ten until up to Saturday morning.

I have to say that Jyskälä is a great rally. I can't but congratulate the Finnish rally fans.

This is a rally country and the whole gang was fully with us alongside the roads starting from six in the morning. It gives you a great feeling to drive with a support like that.

I have never got so much support anywhere else and I'm sure all the other Finnish drivers think exactly the same way.

The new format worked well. We drove for two days from morning to evening. I thought it was a successful trial. It felt completely different than it has felt in other races.

I have to say that it's cool to run a fast rally like this with a decent machine. These are great cars. We enjoyed every stage "100" when there's twisting and power to push, the chassis works and the brakes are top class.

It was difficult in the beginning. We didn't really get into the rhythm. We tried different settings before we got the setup to fall in place and set some good SS-times after that. There was a good twist too when we got to race against Kankkunen's Juha for the 7th position. The age isn't weighing him down, that's for sure. He went that fast.

Of course you are never completely satisfied with any stage but there was a few after which we could smile for a reason.

Then Kolonkulma on Saturday morning just went wrong. The car slided on the morning stage to a ditch in a corner turning to the right. We didn't go terribly fast but it was a deep ditch and the car got stuck. We tried to get it up by using the gas but only managed to break the front. Luckily there was enough gang so that we got help to get back on the road.

After that we had to do some tyre work because we only had one spare tyre. One tyre was completely wasted but the other one could be put back on the rim.

We jumped on it for a while and got to continue our journey.

Congratulations to the fan who is somewhere dragging the Citroen bumper as a souvenir.

It went well since we could continue. After the service we got all the pieces back. The rest went well. We got important kilometers of the rally pace both for the car and the dude.

It was great that we got a Finnish winner in Finland's WRC-rally. It means a lot to the rally people.

Now we will change from gravel back to tarmac. We will test in Germany next weekend and after that we are ready for the next challenge. Let's see how it hits in Germany.

Source: Kimiraikkonen.com
Courtesy: Nicole

Kimi's mid-term report

Now that the World Rally Championship season is more than halfway over, we caught up with Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen to see how he rates his progress up to now…

What do you think of your results so far this year?
“I’d say that our results are what we expected; or maybe slightly better than we expected. When we came into this year, we knew that it was not going to be easy and it would take us some time to adapt and of course this has been the case.

If you consider that everyone else has got so much more experience than us and we had not even done five rallies before the start of the year, it’s not too bad.

Sweden was a tricky event for us to start the year with as the grip kept on changing but then we found it a bit more normal on gravel in Mexico. Jordan was a really tricky rally but we were very pleased to take our first points, and then we had Turkey where we finished fifth, which was a great result.

After Turkey we missed Rally New Zealand and then we had Portugal, which was difficult for us because it took a little bit of time to get into the rhythm again. When we went to Bulgaria I had a good feeling on asphalt and if we had not had an accident, then I think we could have been in the top five.”

How about Finland?
“Actually, Finland was the same sort of story as Bulgaria: some good bits and some bad bits. But it would have been top eight and not top five.”

So how many marks would you give yourself out of 10?
“I’m not sure: I would say maybe five? Because some bits have been good and some other bits have been not so good but in the end it was all more or less what I was expecting. OK, maybe we have done a bit better than I was expecting, so I could give myself five and a half or six?”

Making pace notes has been a big challenge. How is that going?
“That’s probably one of the hardest things for me. Even when I was in Formula One I never really liked it when engineers were talking to me over the radio when I was driving the car in the circuit. Now though it is part of the job. There is probably more speed to come from me through improving the pace notes than there is in any other area.”

Rallying is a slightly mad sport. Does it ever scare you?
“No, there is nothing that I am scared of in a rally car: it is just a very different style of driving. In the end you have to trust your co-driver and your pace notes because this is part of the skill of rallying.

Having said that, when you go off on a circuit, you normally go off into a gravel trap or a tyre wall. When you go off in rallying there are trees. There is no room for mistakes, and although I am making a few all the time, this is one of the things that attracts me to rallying. If it was easy, then everybody would do it.”

Have your targets changed at all this year?
“No, not really. I just want to gradually improve and learn everything you need to succeed in rallying. It’s unrealistic to expect much more in your first year as rallying is all about experience.

The chances are that I’m not going to be able to win anything this year but if I could have one or two more results in the top five then that would be really good. But I think it’s going to be tough…”

Source: RedBull
Courtesy: Kriss

Pics of Kimi Räikkönen at Neste Oil Rally Finland 2010

Some pics of Kimi Räikkönen during the Neste Oil Rally Finland!
















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