WRC Rally of Spain: Kimi Räikkönen's Lucky Numbers

Today hasn’t been the luckiest day for The Iceman, who retired from the Rally of Spain on the opening morning of the event with engine problems. Still, at least it went better for him than it had done the previous year, when he crashed during the shakedown before the rally actually started

So in order to give the flying Finn a bit of encouragement, here are some lucky numbers that have influenced the illustrious career of Kimi Matias Räikkönen…

3...

The Citroen DS3 WRC is Kimi’s rally car, run by his own Ice 1 Racing team. This year is his second season in the World Rally Championship, and he says it’s been a lot easier than the first year. “It just feels a bit more natural,” he points out. “With the pace notes it’s starting to get to the point where you don’t have to think about it too much.”

5...

Kimi’s best result on the World Rally Championship has been fifth place, which he took last year on the Rally of Turkey. His best result so far this year has been sixth, in Jordan and Germany. However, he’s already scored more points so far this year than he did throughout the whole of the season last year. “Actually, Turkey was quite lucky; lots of people had problems,” says the Iceman.

6...

This was the competition number of the Ferrari F2007 with which Kimi clinched the 2007 Formula One title. He started the final grand prix, in Brazil, running third in the standings but came through to win the title: the first person to reverse his fortunes in such a way since Nino Farina in 1950. “It was a strange year for us,” recalls Kimi of his championship-winning season. “It started off badly and then got much better.”

18...

The number of grand prix wins claimed by Kimi, equalled by Red Bull’s double world champion Sebastian Vettel at the Italian Grand Prix. Vettel was asked what he thought about matching Kimi’s total and said that he was pleased, but added that he reckoned that Kimi had a few more grand prix wins left in him. Let’s wait and see…

582...

The amount of horsepower that one of Kimi’s favourite road cars has: the Mercedes Benz CLK Coupe 55 DTM. Only a hundred of these were built, as a tribute to the DTM Merc. It pulls 1.35G under acceleration and has a top speed of 322kph, thanks to a supercharged 5.4 V8 engine. From 0-100 kph takes 3.8 seconds, so hold on tight. Many people have been truly terrified by this car with Kimi at the wheel.

1990...

When Kimi was still driving for Ferrari, he first contested the Rally Finland in 2009. You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time that an active Formula 1 driver took part in a World Rally Championship event, when Derek Warwick – at the time a Lotus driver – took part in the RAC Rally at the wheel of a Subaru Legacy.

Source: Red Bull

Räikkönen will not continue with super rally

Räikkönen had to stop the race on Friday on the 3rd stage after his Citroën-car hit a technical problem

Räikkönen's car appeared to have an electrical error which resulted in a fire under the hood. After extinguishing the fire Räikkönen discovered that the car was so badly damaged that he couldn't continue the rally on Friday.

Räikkönen's team tried to fix the car like crazy during the 75-minute break in service park. According to information MTV3 has they got the car fixed, however Räikkönen decided not to continue the rally. The organizers already informed on Friday that Räikkönen would continue with super rally. Had he continued he would have got a time penalty of about 15 minutes.

Petter Solberg has also retired from the rally. Solberg's race ended when the wheel suspension broke during the opening stage.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole

Räikkönen's rally stopped on Friday

Turun Sanomat 22.10.2011 09:39:30

Just like in France, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström also had to retire from Rally Spain.

ICE1 Racing -team's Citroën came to Salou's service park on Friday evening. The engine took fire during SS3.

After the inspection they made the decision to retire from the rally.

Turun Sanomat, Salou

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: Kimi Räikkönen retires Day 1 WRC Rally Spain 2011 engine failure

Source: Formula1Arab

Engine-inspection decides whether Kimi continues or not

– It got some error. The engine took a bit of fire, we stopped and extinguised it but then it stopped 500 meters later, Räikkönen told TS.

Kaj Lindström explained that all of a sudden smoke was coming under the hood and then the flames took off.

The car was in the furthest possible place from the service park. Räikkönen was picked up by a helicopter.

Räikkönen isn't throwing in the towel right away. They will inspect the engine and depending on the damages he knows whether he can continue the rally on Saturday or not. He has a huge urge to finally get on Spain's tarmac.

Turun Sanomat, Salou

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Räikkönen's engine broke down

Turun Sanomat 21.10.2011 14:03:10

Citroen's engine broke down on SS3.

Hence Räikkönen won't see the tarmac parts in Spain this time either. A year ago the rally was over already in the beginning of shakedown.

Räikkönen also retired from his previous rally in France.

Turun Sanomat, Salou

Courtesy: Nicole

Kimi's Column: FRIDAY ON MY MIND

Kimi Rally de Spain preview in Finnish

Ahead is now the season's second last rally. Last year's experience doesn't help at all at this point. We are going to a completely new rally so to say. At least the vibes are very high after the pace noting.

From here we go and drive almost two different rallies because the first part is gravel and the two parts after that are on tarmac again.

The noting went well and based upon that, we already know that on Friday the roads are slippery and hence very demanding. It's clear that on these gravel roads one has to drive totally with the tongue in the middle of the mouth and try to avoid bigger blunders.

The last stage on Friday will practically be driven when darkness has already descended. That offers a challenge of it's own in this rally. Lets hope that there's not a lot of dust in the air since the visibility is already limited as it is.

The goal is of course to cross the finish line on Friday so that we get to continue from good positions on Saturday. Saturday and Sunday will be on tarmac and those roads are totally super cool. They aren't very fast but it's kind of real tarmac driving. They don't have those shortcut places and the roads stay pretty much clean.

Its already beforehand the very best driving that rally offers. The front cars are also making sure that no unpleasant surprises occur after pace noting.

Now we hit the gravel roads, our last gravel rally was in Jyskälä. That's what makes it different when compared to Germany and France because you have to be alert all the time. The goals are the same as always: we aim to the finish line.

Source: KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM
Courtesy: Nicole

False information about Kimi is circulating

According to MTV3-site Kimi Räikkönen won't participate in Rally Spain at the end of October. It's not true.

Räikkönen's name is not on the teams' WRC-list FIA has published.

And it shouldn't be there either because only drivers who's teams are racing for WCC-points are on FIA's list.

Räikkönen's name is not on the list because his team ICE 1 Racing has been excluded from the WCC-serie due to a violation of regulations.

Kimi has signed up for Rally Catalynia but ICE 1 Racing won't get any more WCC-points. Yet Räikkönen can still collect driver WC-points.

Janne Aittoniemi

Courtesy: Nicole

More videos of the Kimi Räikkönen Crash at Rally Spain 2010

Source: YouTube

KIMI FELT THE PAIN IN SPAIN - OUT AT THE SHAKEDOWN

The Rally de Espana is well-known for being a compact event of the World Rally Championship, based on stages around the Port Aventura theme park in Salou

But this year, the rally will be particularly short for former Grand Prix Champion and Red Bull driver Kimi Räikkönen. The flying Finn went flying a bit too early in proceedings, and damaged his car in the shakedown to the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship. The impact wasn't a huge one, but it damaged his Citroen C4 WRC's roll cage too badly for him to continue.

This year's Rally de Espana is being run for the first time on both gravel and asphalt surfaces, and the shakedown stage contained a bit of both. Kimi completed one run successfully, but clipped a bank on a left-hand corner halfway through the second run, just after the gravel finished and the asphalt began. The impact tipped his car over, and it rolled. The roll cage just above co-driver Kaj Lindstrom's seat was damaged, which meant that for safety reasons Kimi's car was not able to start the rally.

"It was just one of those stupid things that happens sometimes: I just touched the bank and the car rolled," said the Iceman. "It's the sort of thing that if you're lucky you get away with it, but on this occasion there was something that damaged the roll cage on Kaj's side of the car. We can't restart so that's the end of that. It's a pity as I think it was a rally that might have suited us but now we'll never know. I'm obviously disappointed, but I've been around motorsport for long enough to know that disappointments are part of the game sometimes; it's how you deal with them that matters. Now I'm just looking forward to our next event and I'm going to concentrate on the future. That's always more interesting than the past."

The Rally de Espana has often been described as the closest that the World Rally Championship comes to circuit racing, but Kimi will be watching it on television this year as he is now heading straight home to Switzerland.

Kaj Lindstrom is also resigned to being a spectator, but he is always able to look on the bright side of any situation. "It's a pity, but this doesn't really change anything for us," Kaj said. "I've never had a rally finish this soon before, although I've had some pretty short tests with some other drivers! You have to expect anything and learn from everything in this sport, so myself and Kimi have already put what happened behind us. I know Kimi and this will just make him more determined. We're going to go away now, but we'll come back strongly for Rally Great Britain: I'm absolutely sure of this."

Source: RedBullRallye

RallyRACC stars to take part in kart race on Thursday

Loeb, Sordo, Hirvonen, Ogier, Latvala, Solberg... at the wheel of go karts

On the occasion of the RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España, the main drivers of the WRC will be taking part in a karting exhibition at the Salou Karting Centre. Most of them being karting fans, the drivers who have confirmed their attendance to the exhibition are the main stars of the championship such as World Champion, Sébastien Loeb and his Spanish team mate Dani Sordo; Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier, Kimi Räikkönen, Matthew Wilson, Ken Block, Petter Solberg, Khalid Al Qassimi and also Federico Villagra.

This true show with the best drivers of the World Rally Championship, perfectly kitted out to drive a professional kart, will start with a group photograph of all participants followed by the exhibition as such, and will be held on Thursday, 21 October, from 3.00 to 4.00 p.m. on the 900-m track of the Salou Karting Centre.

For the agenda:
- Event: WRC stars in karts
- Place: Karting Salou (Autovía de Salou a Reus, km 2.1)
- Date: Thursday, 21 de October
-Time: 3.00 p.m.

Source: RallyRACC.com

CITROËN JUNIOR TEAM IN SPAIN 2010 - A PREVIEW

The Citroën Junior Team starts round 12 of the season with two objectives: sealing third place in the World Rally Championship for manufacturers and allowing Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia to defend their second place in the drivers’ standings. In the team’s second Citroën C4 WRC Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström will also be aiming to make their mark on Catalan asphalt

Mixed-surface events are gradually coming back to the FIA World Rally Championship. After one day of the 2009 Cyprus Rally that was held on asphalt and a Rally of Turkey this year that mixed some asphalt sections on an all-gravel route, the Spanish round of the World Championship also brings a new dimension to the end of the year.

On Friday, the crews will face a stage that is 100% gravel (SS2/5 La Ribera d’Ebre) and two mixed surface stages. The first stage of the loop, Terra Alta (35.94 km) is 73% gravel. The final stage, Les Garrigues (17.28 km) is split equally between sealed and loose surfaces.
The two Citroën C4 WRCs will be in gravel configuration on the first day, but will be put into full asphalt specification for Saturday and Sunday during a long service halt (1h15m) on Friday evening.

Citroën Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier commented: “There’s going to be a lot of work to convert our Citroën C4 WRCs from gravel to asphalt specification. We’ve prepared for this service halt especially so that we can be both quick and efficient. The team will be embarking on two 75-minute sessions, which in theory gives us enough time to do everything we need to do…as long as all goes according to plan.”

The two Citroën Junior Team crews each spent a day testing in the south of France in order to prepare for the penultimate round of the season. Sébastien Ogier reported : “The roads were damp. It wasn’t ideal for us to work on the set-up but it was really important to get the kilometres in for both myself and Kimi, who was asking me a lot of questions so that we could compare our impressions.”

“We’ll start second on the road for day one so we’ll certainly suffer a bit with road-sweeping,” continued Sébastien. “We’ll just need to stay in touch and not lose too much time compared to the drivers who are starting behind us. This first mixed day could well play an absolutely crucial role in the final classification. My objective is to finish runner-up in the World Championship and so I need a good result in Spain.”

“It’s another step into the unknown,” added Kimi. “I don’t really know if our start position will be a help or a disadvantage. On the gravel, we will maybe have a clean line to help us but the asphalt sections might be very dirty. It will be vital for us to come out of the first day without making any mistakes so that we are in a good position for the rest of the rally.”

Source: RedBullRallye
Courtesy: momo

Q & A Kimi Räikkönen

Interview with Kimi Räikkönen before Rally RACC Spain 2010

Back to your Rally de France - Alsace, why be terminated after the second day?

Kimi Räikkönen: "We are at the start of each event to learn and learn as much experience. In Alsace, I still learned a lot. I was comfortable in the portions of the fastest but I was having difficulties in the slower corners. There was so much mud on the road than it was more like a real rally on asphalt. The experience was rewarding but it was not useful to continue under these conditions. I would not have learned more in the last day. The best decision was to preserve the car for the Rally of Spain. "

Do you have a particular ambition in Spain?

KR: "Since the beginning of the season, I mean that the test is one that most suits my driving style. The stages are fast and wide enough. This is the path that the rally drivers closest to a circuit on which it is necessary to work its trajectories. However, it is a rally that all competitors are fully aware. I'll have a big experience gap. My goal is to be fairly close to the top 6, maybe a bit more than at the beginning of the race in France. "

The first day will take place on roads mixed with soil and asphalt. Do you fear these changes coatings?

KR: "This season, I discover each event and all have their specificities. During reconnaissance, I am faced with new settings that I have to get used. You have to know to deal with these aspects in the race. World Championship Rally, we move from the land of asphalt and asphalt to the ground several times per season. This time, it will be in the same special ... We will see Friday! "

Source: Racing Citroën
Courtesy: luieluv