Photos: Kimi Räikkönen at MX GP Uddevalla - Sweden

The closest GP in the circuit brought ICE1RACING to Uddevalla, Sweden. The slippery track demanded good riding and errors easily molded the results in the qualifying race. Ludde Söderberg was 29th in MX2. "The race was a struggle. Even though I tried to ride fast, it didn't affect my speed", commented Söderberg his riding.

The return for Toni Eriksson, who was injured in the first GP in Sevlievo, was also tough in MX1. He was caught up with crashing riders in the very start and fell behind. Eriksson was 30th. "Rough start", dissatisfied Eriksson commented. ICE1RACING had also a third rider in the start this weekend. The junior team rider Santtu Tiainen got a wild card for the Uddevalla GP and felt at home on the hard track. His riding was very, yet he gained one minute extra to his qualifying race time for failing the post race sound control. Tiainen placed 29th.

Source: ICEONERACING

Kimi's Column: SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM

Kimi Rally de Portugal preview in Finnish

I was left with good feelings from Rally Sweden. It went better the second time than it went last year. It will be interesting now to see how it goes for us this weekend.

In Portugal, now that we are driving there for the second time also.

I remember the roads from last year. It's really a very challenging place. You have to drive precisely according to the note with your tongue right in the middle of your mouth because you have stones and stumps ahead of you and behind you. What is new is that the rally starts from Lissabon and there is also a completely new stage on the route.

This is our first rally on gravel with this car. I like the car. It's sort of more handy and it fits better in my hand.
As a gravel rally Portugal is one of the most trickiest when your have to twist and turn all the time. I think that only Jordan is a wee bit more worse than Portugal beause the roads in Jordan are so slippery all way long.

Last week we had one testing day in France. I got a good feeling of it. We fixed the setups a bit and got a good feeling of the car. In that sense it's cool to go to a race again.

The others got a bit of leverage because we didn't go to Mexico. They have now more experience of these new cars. Of course Portugal is a completely different place than Mexico. We are on Europe's side and the air isn't as thin as it is there in the mountains. We get to use all the powers and it's always cool to get everything out of a car.

The goals are the same as they were in Sweden: We try to drive as fast as we can and avoid bigger blunders. It went well in the first rally and if it goes well again then we should get a good result.

The learning continues. We have to drive precisely during the weekend and get the notes to hit in place.

Lets wait and see how it goes this time.

Source: KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM
Courtesy: Nicole

Räikkönen happy with the DS3 WRC

Citroën Racing clients, Petter Solberg and Kimi Raïkkönen, also racked up the maximum number of kilometers with a few hours to go to the start.

“I already feel at home behind the wheel of the Citroën DS3 WRC,” smiled Norwegian Solberg this morning. “I’m ready to get the season off to a flying start, and I’m going to be fighting for the podium here in Sweden. The DS3 WRC is an easy car to drive and I can’t wait to be under starter’s orders!”

Parked a few metres away, Raïkkönen added: “I really like how the Citroën DS3 WRC handles. It’s more compact and easier to turn, I’m having fun behind the wheel. The conditions are different to our tests on ice. During the shakedown I kissed a wall of snow. We’ll see how things turn out during the rally.”

The crews are now heading off to Karlstad. Loeb will be attending a press conference at 13h30, and an autograph signing session will be held at 18h30 in Färestadstravet, the town’s race course, before the start of the first stage at 20h00.

Source: madeinmotorsport
Courtesy: Julia

Räikkönen gets a Citroen for 10 WRC-rallies

Kimi Räikkönen's contract that has been fine-tuned for a long time with Citroen's brand new DS3 WRC-car in WRC was finally ready to be published on Monday.

– We can confirm that Kimi has agreed upon 10 WRC-rallies with Citroen. Kimi decided that he wants to continue in rally and he wanted to continue in the best car. Although the WRC-cars will change Citroen still seems to be in the best positions, Räikkönen's manager Steve Robertson told Turun Sanomat.

Kaj Lindström will continue as Räikkönen's co-driver. Mark Arnall will still take care of his fitness.

– Of course Kimi's learning in rally continues this year also but it's not as difficult as it was the first season. The car is now different for everybody and it gives a little leverage in addition to the experience Kimi has gained when compared to the top lead. Of course the difference to Sebastien Loeb and other experienced drivers is undisputable, Robertson thinks.

Peter van Merksteijn junior has also made a 10 rally deal with Citroen like Räikkönen but the French team will only get 3 new cars to Sweden.

This year the junior-team's car is completely identical with the factory team because the machinery is completely renewed.

Why does Räikkönen have a contract with 10 instead of 13 rallies?

– Because Kimi's rallying experience is so small it can be better to drive additional tests with the new car while the others race in the long distance races, Robertson justified - but he left the possibility that Räikkönen would in the end drive the whole serie.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

ONE STEP MORE READY

Text by Marko Mäkinen

8th position and four championship-points. No other Finnish sportsman has ever been able to score championship-points in both F1 and WRC. Kimi Räikkönen has - and there's more to come.

Despite all the unrealistic expectations the media has created Kimi Räikkönen has been able to get through all three WRC-rallies almost excellently. He has now his first championship-points in the pocket although Räikkönen himself expected to score points in the autumn at earliest.

He has made mistakes and that hasn't surprised anyone, not even Kimi himself. Rally is a brutal sport where you don't get back on the road after a driving mistake. Whereas in F1 you can make an error with the driving line which will take you over the borders or at the most to the safety-area in rally again a similar judgement error creates a six-volt rolling roulette which can end the whole race like Kimi got to experience in Mexico.

Long working days came as a surprise

Of course Räikkönen was able to prepare himself beforehand for almost everything but one thing surprised even him: when it comes to time the WRC is like the Army for Officers and the F1 again the Civil Alternative Service. In rally you sleep and eat when you have time, the alarm clock goes off at 5 a.m. after which you sit in the race car for five days until the sun goes down (recce included). It's those long racing days that brought back the backpains from a couple of old F1-races that you cannot treat in anyway in rally.

Also the change of the daily routine hindered the F1-star's concentration. Kimi was used to taking refreshing naps on the F1-paddock but in rally you cannot do the same. When a 10 year old routine suddenly changes like this it cannot help but affect the vigor.

Kimi is not a quitter

With Räikkönen's performance and development it isn't a question of speed or lack of talent, it's about enhancing these into a complete ability to perform in the most efficient possible way.

Yet Kimi hasn't even once regretted his decision to switch over to rally. You can see from everything that rally is exactly what he wants to do at the moment. If Räikkönen would have a quitter's nature or if he would be satisfied with the first good feeling then he surely would have stepped right in the helicopter in Rally Sweden when he drove in the snowbank but instead he started shoveling with a small plastic shovel to get his car out of the bank and continued his race after working for half an hour.

Kimi's main goal this season has been to finish rallies and drive as fast as possible. Other quarters have set harder result goals but Räikkönen has wisely stated that 'if you can't finish the rally then it's useless to put any other goals for yourself'.

In Jordan Räikkönen dropped his pace to a safety-level so that he could finish the rally. It was a professional man's humble performance to drive for the end result and it brought good starting points to lift up his own pace in the next rallies so that it's more closer to the topdrivers.

KIMI DRIVES WITH LOEB'S SETUPS

Kimi Räikkönen made his WRC-career's first big decision during Rally Sweden's first service break when he changed his setups so that they matched Sébastien Loeb's. With this decision Kimi wanted to concentrate more on driving from the notes and put the car's setup-matters at the side.

Loeb's suspension- and power transmission -setups don't naturally go along with Räikkönen's driving style but he humbly decided to learn a new driving style. Period.

The learning still goes on. Räikkönen made the only exception for Jordan's first stage where his starting position was 10th. They expected the road to be cleaned of rocks and sand before Kimi's turn came, that's why Citroen's suspension was changed into a remarkably harder one than the others had. This decision turned out to be completely wrong: The road's surface was even more slippery than it was for the first cars so it wasn't any wonder that Kimi said after the stages that it was his motorsporting career's most difficult and challenging race.

After the trial Räikkönen went back to Loeb's suspension estimations and he will trust them in the future too.

Source: Vauhdin Maailma
Courtesy: Nicole

KIMI'S SILENCE MIGHT HAVE COST HIS F1-CAREER

From world champion and F1-star into rally rookie - there you have the biggest crossover of the year.

”He doesn't give extra comments" says Marcus Grönholm.

The myth around Räikkönen tells that he is a lazy party-boy who doesn't spit in the glass, is media-shy and far from a sunbeam in PR-events.

In Rally Sweden the F1-star copied Greta Garbo's style in an almost spooky way and he put his cap over his eyes over and over again when the photographers were crowding around his car.

You can almost talk about a nightmare situation for the international media.

While other drivers were eating sandwiches, drinking coffee and chatting with the media Räikkönen chose to hide in his car, talk on the phone and dismiss the media completely.

And because his door stayed closed Kaj Lindström had to take the 'media-punches' outside the car.

Marcus Grönholm:

– Kimi is smart when he runs away from the reporters, says Marcus Grönholm.

– To be honest all there is to it is that a name that big has started to drive rally. It's only positive although he steals the attention from others.

But Räikkönen is incredibly media-shy?

– Yeah, he is a bit media-shy. He is a great guy who doesn't want to talk with the media, Grönholm told Sportbladet.

Do you know Kimi?

– Yeah, a bit. We sat on Sågen's terrasse last summer drinking beer. He is really okay. Privately when he is in the gang he is really open and in fact really talkative.

Oh, so we have to offer him beer so that he would talk to us?

Grönholm laughs.

When Sportsbladet got a moment with Kimi in the chaotic battlefield of reporters, Räikkönen revealed that he might stay in rally permanently.

Kaj Lindström:
– The bloke knows how to drive rally and he is a great talent. The challenge is not driving the car, it's learning to trust blindly in my notes and drive according to them.

In spite of his hiding from the media Kimi Räikkönen has with his own starshine exploded into WRC.

Not because of his positions but he is the hottest driver in rally at the moment.

Source: Sportbladet
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1

[Video] Highlights of Kimi Raikkonen's first Rally in Sweden 2010

Source: YouTube @WRCNorthAmerica

Kimi almost crashes into a Swedish moose in Rally Sweden 2010 From MTV3

Kimi: Oh fu*k!

Kaj: Just let it go.. [meaning "just continue"]

Kimi: Fu*k it comes on to us!

Kaj: yeah *laughs* [and continues with the notes]

Kimi: I didn't know where it was going...

Kaj: yeah [continues with notes]

Courtesy: Leijona Planet-F1

Source: YouTube

The Debut of Kimi Räikkönen in WRC 2010

Source: YouTube - Courtesy: _TaniaS_

In Search of the Iceman By Lady Snowcat

Lady Snowcat recently spent some time in the freezing depths of Sweden to watch Kimi Räikkönen get his rally career off to a good start. Here, she tells us about what it's like supporting your man in such a chilly environment.
Have you ever stood in the dark, in a forest, far from home, very early in the morning, with frost forming on your hair because it’s minus 23°C, all for the sight of a guy driving a car exceptionally fast? If you have I’ll bet you will end up asking yourself if you are totally mad.

Of course the answer to that question is obvious. You are quite certainly off your head, albeit that there seem to be quite a few people infected with the same malady, as in this icy place you are most certainly not alone. There is a burbling under-current of discussion which, for once, does not allow my usual pastime of listening in, as English does not predominate.

With a number of small fires pocketing the dark gradually coming to life as the pink tinge of the sky then turns to a gentle blue, you can see more people picking their way through the soft, deep snow hiding the rather tricky terrain under foot. You only have to smile to begin a conversation in English and to get a welcome around one of the small fires. This happens just before your toes fall off with frost-bite and allows you to imagine taking your top layer of gloves off in order to get a photo as the Iceman hurries by.

Then you hear a growling in the distance and the thwack of helicopter blades and anticipation rises. All at once a car arrives - it’s Mikka; then another and it’s Seb; followed by Jari-Matte - each leaping over the ridge with a roar, squirming across the track as they brake for a corner and douse you in snow as they pass so, so close to you they take your breath with them as they go. Some more than others!

Once a certain cool Finn goes by it’s time to move on, perhaps to another stage, perhaps to the Service area, perhaps for a snack from one of the trestle tables set up with refreshments (no burger vans or even ice creams! in sight here).

The Service area in the middle of the very bleak Hagfors airfield doesn’t have the charm of the F1 paddock, with, of course, one exception. The exception is very important to my visit so all is okay with the world. When you aren’t amongst the trees, as on a stage, even a minor breeze freezes your bones. The cars are under rather flimsy canvas awnings with no sides and you have to feel sorry for the mechanics struggling to do enough work in 15, 30 or a generous 45 minutes, to make the gradually worn looking vehicles fit for another battering.

The tyres look like a Goth's dream with 384 studs in each. Being run over here would result in rather severe acupuncture so I resist throwing myself in front of anyone’s car!

Sweden is totally beautiful with its snow like very smooth icing on the great expanses of frozen lakes, pretty little houses, acres of trees and the blue sky to set it all off. And rally cars! You trip over them everywhere, including getting overtaken on the open road as they move from stage to stage. As they come past I am cricking my neck trying to establish if it’s number 8. Please let it be number 8.

It’s always clear when Kimi is expected as a crowd forms and from a distance it appears to boil with enthusiasm as some jump up and down and others brace themselves to take a snatched photo. He rarely leaves his car at the beginning or end of a stage but travels a short way along the road and, when out of sight or a distance from the fans, jumps out to remove his helmet and check the tyres. In fact a lot of drivers follow this process, particularly if, like Dani Sordo you need to prune the car of foliage and the stripped tape bordering the stages.

I could go on for hours but expect you are all bored by my enthusiasm. I do have to say that seeing them on the road from 5.30am to 8.40pm with only short breaks for service stops has given me a huge respect for the guys who do this. Also there is something rather real about rallying which makes the F1 crowd seem almost, but not quite, effete by comparison. Perhaps real men go rallying.

Source: sidepodcast.com
Courtesy: sleenS2S Planet-F1

WRC Onboards: Sweden 2010: Raikkonen SS15 Requested by CTUfinland

Source: WRC

"He is the best and the most handsome in the world"

Imagine a combo of Beatles-hysteria and the queue to Skansen (a very popular event) and you have mother and daughter Karlsen, Janne and Henriette, in a compact form.

These two Norwegian ladies have a huge passion in life - it is spelled out Kimi Räikkönen.– He is such a good driver, Janne says, and he is so handsome too...

Finally at the finish line. The idol Kimi Räikkönen gives autographs and Janne and Henriette Karlsen don't believe it's actually happening.

Mother Janne and daughter Henriette Karlsen from Norway are real hardcore-fans. They have seen him live in two F1-races and nothing could now stop them from being first in the line leading to the rally drivers giving out autographs.

When the guards finally opened the door Janne Karlsen yelled so high that a scream like that hasn't been heard ever since the Beatles visited Norway. After that she and her daughter stormed by Loeb and the other big names like smiling robots looking for their destination.

They simply had eyes for only Kimi Räikkönen.– We cried when it was clear that he wouldn't be in F1 anymore but after that we got the news that he will be in WRC and then we cried again but this time out of happiness, Janne tells and laughs.

”Here only for Kimi”

When they knew that Kimi Räikkönen would come to Sweden they didn't even discuss whether they should go or not.

These ladies don't give a damn about WRC, they aren't moved by sport.– We are here only for Kimi, only for Kimi, 20-year old Henriette explains.

Father Terje sat in the audience hall with Henriette's boyfriend.– Our interest started with daddy following F1 and him liking Kimi Räikkönen. But now we have totally taken over, Henriette says.

Doesn't your father think that you....well, overdo it a bit?– Haha, yes he does but he leaves us alone, Henriette states

She wanted to get the autograph on her lower arm so that she could have filled it and made it permanent in a tattoo-studio in Karlstad.

But Kimi wasn't willing to write on her arm.

Both mother and daughter were more than happy with their 45 seconds with their super-idol.– He smiled at me, did you see Henriette - and then he put his hand here on my shoulder, Janne screams.

The Finn won't probably win the championship in Charm but he has other titles stored and more in sight.

He will try to be the first one to win the championship in both F1 and WRC.

And with fans like Janne and Henriette nothing seems impossible.– I mean he is the best and the most handsome guy in the world, Janne says with a blissful sigh....

Source: nwt.se
Courtesy: Nicole Planet-F1

Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastien Loeb Sweden Rally 2010

Source: YouTube

IN ONE PIECE TO THE FINISH LINE

Kimi Swedish rally review in Finnish

The first 'äm-äm' with a WRC-car is now wrapped. The positive thing was that we got in one piece to the finish line.

I could have lived without making a few stupid mistakes. This is how it went, if the car goes off the track you hit immediately soft snow and you spin. There was snow everywhere. Because we couldn't see out at all we hit the snowbank - and got stuck in it.

It meant a shovel-job. You have to dig. It's normal and it's part of rallying. We know afterall that even those who now drive in the lead have also had to do some shoveling at some stage. I don't think Sibelius started with composing Finlandia right away.

All and all Sweden was an interesting weekend. Okay, maybe I didn't have any expectations but the pressure was hard when we took off. It was a bit difficult but it's good that it's now behind.

Every race is important at this stage. The more I get to drive this car the better I become. It already started to feel like it fit my hand better.

It relaxed after that. Because we drove the same stages twice it was already a bit easier to remember them.

Because we had problems in the beginning we decided that we don't even start to look for setups. We just took Loeb's setups and learned to drive with them. We concentrated on basic driving at this point and on staying on the road.

By doing that we got used to what the car does. Now it did this. When you know next time better what it does you can also ask more from the car.

Of course driving out is always frustrating. You just had to pick up yourself again and again. It's the same at the track too. Racing is never so easy that you just show up, jump in the car and start winning.

It was cool when a few stages went okay. The notes are decisive. When the note is completely right it's completely different to drive fast than if it's even a bit wrong. There was a few spots where my notes didn't hit at all.

I told already beforehand that starting the serie on Sweden's snow is probably the most difficult place of all places. I haven't drove this car flat out with other chassis but I guess that it won't be more difficult when we go on gravel.

If we are in rally next year I bet that we will go completely differently in Sweden. Now we concentrate on the next race - Mexico and gravel.

We will have time to drive one test with Kaitsu in France before we go there far away. After that it will be Viva la Mexico. It's going to be cool to see Kaitsu with a sombrero...

Source: kimiraikkonen.com
Courtesy: Nicole @OF

WRC RALLY SWEDEN 2010 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN OFFICIAL WEB SITE

Source: kimiraikkonen.com

Kimi Räikkönen Interview with Neil Cole in Sweden Rally 2010

Source: YouTube

The winner gives sympathy for Kimi

The Swedish rally winner Mikko Hirvonen shared compassion for WRC-newcomer Kimi Räikkönen.

- There were certainly not easy conditions. Kimi surely noticed the challenge what he has ahead of him. It is not easy to drive from a note, Hirvonen stated.

- But what I had time to see, Kimi had some really good times there. Like we saw, he can drive. Let's see how Mexico goes because that is once again a completely different rally when we go on gravel.

- Here in Sweden the snowbanks can excuse you a little bit. Although Kimi wasn't excused in any way since he had a lot of that shovel-work to do, Hirvonen pondered.

Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Leijona Planet-F1

Rally-Kimi has still wax in "note-ears"

Like expected the F1-champion Kimi Räikkönen got a lot of homework from his first learning-course in WRC-rally world.

There is still wax in his "note-ear" and thus the driving accuracy on a stage is still in search mode. Because of Swedish rally Räikkönen understands even better how accurately you have to make notes for different stages.

- I had some pretty bad notes for couple of stages and I couldn't drive the way I wanted. That's how the outcome is resolved. If the notes are completely right, you can go a lot faster. But you can learn that only through experience and fortunately you get it all the time by itself along the way, Räikkönen summed up.

Co-driver Kaj Lindström says that you can learn making notes even at home.

- It progresses when Kimi goes with the car to for example visit the grocery store and thinks over the notes to each part of the road while driving. You just have to use time and ponder what I have to know in each spot.

- From this rally some good knowledge was attained when we noticed that something is missing from the note-aspect. Now there were spots where the braking points were too early, Lindstöm explains.

- But the overall performance from Kimi was indeed positive. The weak routine grew and the car was starting to fit the hands.

Räikkönen's main goal was fulfilled when Citroen made it to the finish. The end result was 30th positions and difference to the winner Mikko Hirvonen was prolonged to 38 minutes and 37 seconds.

- There were some stupid mistakes. We went from walking-speed to a snow-bank and were stuck there. Those mistakes could have been left undone but it's normal and part of rally, Räikkönen said.

Surprised by conditions

Before the rally Räikkönen said that he has no idea of his own pace compared to others. Now that information was accumulated.

Of course they went fast. But this must have been one of the most difficult rallies where I had so much to learn.

Saturday's second to last stage was the best for Räikkönen, where he was the sixth fastest.

- The same snippet would have gone well also on the first round in the morning but because of a bad note I drove to a snow-bank on the last curve, Räikkönen remarked.

- It was easier all the time when the special stages were driven the second time.

Was the weekend more difficult than what you could prepare yourself?

- I didn't have big expectations at this point. I knew that it will be difficult but it surprised me how difficult certain places were. The situations happen in rally all of a sudden. When you have no experience from this, you don't really know what to do when there comes deep tracks or a lot of snow on the road.

Räikkönen was able to show his speed. In seven special stages out of 21 he was in top 10 and in seven others he was the 11th fastest.

Without getting stuck in a snow-bank Räikkönen would have been in top 10 and thus gotten a point right away.

- Kimi is learning this with a tough attitude and motivation. It tells a lot that when we were stuck in the snow-bank, Kimi took a shovel to his hand and decided to dig the car out of there himself, Lindström thanks.

Gravel-test in France

Next Saturday in France Räikkönen and Lindström are testing their Citroen for the first time on a gravel-road. Week after that they move over to the mainland of America where the second rally is driven in Mexico's gravel.

- When I have not driven one meter on gravel with this car and I have never even visited the country, it is difficult to say anything beforehand. But because of the experience I got in Jyväskylä with my own car I believe that on gravel it is certainly easier than it was now on snow, Räikkönen ponders.

Source: Turun Sanomat
Courtesy: Leijona Planet-F1

KIMI ADMITS: I WILL MAKE STUPID MISTAKES IN THE FUTURE TOO

Räikkönen couldn't say what was the most diffcult in the opening race.

- I guess everything. I learned a lot of things and also made stupid mistakes. We lost the game when we didn't see anything and got stuck in the snowbank when driving in a walking speed. Then there were some spins today and we touched the snowbanks. I guess it's normal since the conditions were tricky. The main thing was that we improved a little all the time.

Did you learn anything else than how to use the shovel?

- I think I knew how to shovel before that already, Kimi laughed.

But I meant everything in general. When you haven't drove a rally like this you learn a lot. I should just learn as quickly as possible but because there always comes something new it will take it's own time. Let's just wait for a while.

Stupid mistakes bug me. I'm sure there will be more of them in the future but at least we got to the finish line. We will try to improve after this.
- I never had any big expectations. I knew this was going to be a difficult race but of course some things surprised me, for example how difficult some stages and conditions were. The situations come pretty quickly when you don't have the experience if there is for example deep tracks or much snow. Maybe it will get easier when we go on gravel.

- We will go testing to Mexico next week. I haven't drove one meter on sand with the car so that is also going to be a new experience. After this it's going to be easier to go there though, Kimi thought.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole Planet F1

Kimi Räikkönen in Sweden Rally 2010 From YLE

Source: YLE TV