Alonso quickest after afternoon wash-out

Fernando Alonso finished Tuesday's first day of in-season testing at the top of the timesheets after the rain caused havoc on the afternoon session

The Ferrari driver, who is testing new parts for the team's under-performing F2012 at the Ferrari owned track, clocked 1:22.444 during the morning's session.

That opening stint took place on a drying track with drivers swapping from the full Pirelli wets to the intermediates and finally onto the slick tyres.

However, in the afternoon it was all about the wets as the skies opened and a deluge was dropped on the Italian circuit. Such were the conditions that at one point the circuit had to be closed as the medical helicopter could not take off due to poor light.

The weather severely limited running as most of the 11 teams present opted not to put in any laps as the risk of going off was too great. And, with a limited number of tyres available to each team, it made more sense to wait until Wednesday when better weather has been forecast.

The dismal weather in the afternoon meant Mark Webber finished in second place and was not able to close the gap, down by over a second, while Jean-Eric Vergne, who brought out the red flags early in the morning, was third quickest.

It was a solid day's running for Lotus test driver Jerome D'Ambrosio who was fourth quickest ahead of Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.

The German finished with a 1:24.100, which was just under two seconds off the pace, before handing the car over to his team-mate Michael Schumacher for the afternoon session.

"It was good. We learned some valuable things this morning in the wet," Rosberg told Sky Sports. "Lately, we haven't been that strong in Malaysia, so that was useful.

"We even got some dry running in in the end; we did some useful tests there already, so we learned something, which was great, so it was a good start to the test here.

"It's an impressive track. It's very, very fast and fun out there and it's good preparation for Barcelona, for the high-speed corners there."

Kamui Kobayashi was sixth quickest ahead of Oliver Turvey, who was in action for McLaren, while Jules Bianchi was eighth fastest for Force India.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.444
02. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m23.648 + 1.204
03. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.891 + 1.447
04. Jerome d'Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 1m24.048 + 1.604
05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.100 + 1.656
06. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.736 + 2.292
07. Oliver Turvey McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.303 + 2.859
08. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m25.475 + 3.031
09. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham-Renault 1m27.197 + 4.753
10. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m27.359 + 4.915
11. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m29.179 + 6.735
12. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.898 + 28.454
13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes No time


Source: Planet-F1

Vettel makes fast Barcelona start

Sebastian Vettel put World Champions Red Bull's RB8 on top of a testing timesheet for the first time in 2012 on the opening day of the second pre-season test at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya

The reigning two-time title winner moved to the fore during a competitive morning session in Spain and then mid-way through the afternoon increased his advantage over impressive countryman Nico Hulkenberg to just under two tenths of a second with a lap of 1:23.265.

Force India driver Hulkenberg, completing just his second day of running in the VJM05, had earlier topped the timesheet himself and such was his pace that by the end of the day he still remained ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in second place.

For Hamilton, however, it was undoubtedly still a positive start to the second test as he topped a century of laps for the first time this winter - 114 - with the MP4-27 again running reliably, the former champion eventually having to settle for a time which was three tenths of a second adrift of Vettel.

Ferrari were again, in contrast, forced to spend more time in the garage than they would have wanted during the morning as the team worked to resolve some niggling issues with the F2012, although Fernando Alonso eventually racked up 75 laps to take fifth behind Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo.

After delaying the introduction of their 2012 car by a fortnight, Mercedes' pre-season preparations finally got serious after the new W03 was rolled out this morning. With the team likely still carrying out early evaluations, Michael Schumacher completed 51 laps - although was still just 0.8s off the pace.

Sauber's Sergio Perez lost some track time through some reliability concerns, as the new Williams FW34 again showed good reliability, if unspectacular pace, in the midfield positions.

A similarly low-key day would have certainly been welcomed at Lotus and Caterham, however, after both teams ran into their first major headaches of the winter.

The situation was more costly, and potentially concerning, for Lotus - the mileage leaders and 2012 pacesetters Jerez - who managed to put just seven laps on the second E20 chassis that made its debut on Tuesday.

Romain Grosjean had completed just seven laps when the team became concerned that the new chassis wasn't responding quite as it should and, after some analysis back in the garage, announced at lunchtime that as a precaution it had decided to fly the chassis back to the factory for further investigations before returning to the track tomorrow.

However, the team's scheduled return has since been put back to next week after they subsequently confirmed that they had to make changes to both models.

Caterham, meanwhile, saw their CT01 machine stop out on the circuit just nine laps into the day when a rear track-rod failure struck.

However, after several hours of repairs, Heikki Kovalainen was able to return for the day's final 45 minutes and clear 30 laps, with the newly-promoted Caterham Group Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne hoping the issue proves to be a one-off.

"We had a rear track rod failure on Heikki's third run this morning which brought him to a halt on track," he said.

"As soon as we had the car back in the garage we identified the issue and managed to fix it on site, and we have more parts coming out tonight to make sure we don't have the same problem again. We know that this car is fundamentally reliable, so the aim for the next three days is to complete the plan for this test and put ourselves back on schedule."

One man not having any problems racking up the mileage was French rookie Charles Pic, who made his first on-track appearance since being made an F1 race driver over the winter for Marussia.

The Russian-backed squad, running with last year's MVR-02 while they await the arrival of their new car in time for next week's sessions at Barcelona, clocked up 121 laps as they got their first taste of the new range of Pirelli tyres for 2012.

Day one times:
1) Sebastian Vettel 1:23.265 79 laps
2) Nico Hulkenberg 1:23.440 97
3) Lewis Hamilton 1:23.590 114
4) Daniel Ricciardo 1:23.618 76
5) Fernando Alonso 1:24.100 75
6) Michael Schumacher 1:24.150 51
7) Sergio Perez 1:24.219 66
8) Bruno Senna 1:25.711 97
9) Heikki Kovalainen 1:26.035 31
10) Romain Grosjean 1:26.809 7
11) Pic 1:28.026 121

Source: SkySports

Video: BBC - Kimi Räikkönen Interview after Day 1 Jerez testing

Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time on his first day of running with other drivers since his return to Formula 1



Source: Formula1Arab

Jerez Day One: Day belongs to Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen's first official day back in Formula One ended in glory as the Lotus driver claimed the P1 slot as pre-season testing got underway

Behind the wheel of his new Lotus E20 and permitted to go higher than second gear - Raikkonen had put the car through a shakedown a day earlier where he could go into second gear due to filming commitments - the Iceman quickly shook off any lingering rust.

Raikkonen moved to the top of the timesheets early on before lowering the benchmark to a 1:19.670 midway through the morning session.

That time proved to be unbeatable as Tuesday's running progressed, ensuring the 32-year-old started his comeback in the rather familiar position of P1.

"Lap times may mean little at this stage, but it's still great to see Kimi at the top," Tweeted his Lotus team.

Paul di Resta, in action for Force India with their new VJM05, was second quickest as his morning time, as well as that of Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg, was untouchable.

The first change from the morning to the afternoon's order was with Mark Webber. The Aussei clocked a 1:21.474 prior to lunch having only completed eight laps after Red Bull were forced to wait for parts for their new RB8.

But once underway properly in the afternoon, Webber worked his way down to a 1:20.496, putting in another 46 laps.

Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo was next in line even though his day was cut short due to an oil pressure problem in the afternoon which resulted in the first red flag of the day.

"Daniel felt confident in the car and we ran trouble free until we lost some oil pressure, at which point the engine protector did its job and stopped the car," explained team boss Franz Tost.

"We are now investigating this loss of oil pressure, but we are confident we can have another good day tomorrow. As the failure happened at four o'clock, we only lost one hour's track time which we expect to make up for tomorrow.

"The car looks nice but the important thing is that it should be fast. My first impression, having enjoyed the rare experience of going out onto the track to watch it in action through some corners this morning, is that the basis of the car is quite good and healthy."

The only other red flag of the day belonged to Kamui Kobayashi, who was seventh quickest behind Michael Schumacher. The Japanese driver came to a halt out on track 30 minutes before the close of play. But with 104 laps under his belt, Sauber won't be too concerned.

Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, both of whom had quiet days in their new cars, were eighth and ninth quickest ahead of Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen.

Kovalainen's running, though, was cut short when a damaged starter shaft brought his day to its conclusion an hour before schedule.

"Testing finished for the day unfortunately," Tweeted Mike Gascoyne. "No problem with the car but a damaged starter shaft means we can't start it."

But despite that minor issue, Kovalainen was happy to be back in action. "We were first out on track this morning and the early feeling I had from the car was good. It's far too early to tell how much we've progressed but it already feels like we're going in the right direction.

"We obviously didn't want to end early today but we couldn't sort out the starter shaft issue in time to get back on track, but I'm reasonably pleased with what we have achieved today and I know the team will put in the work tonight to get us back out on track tomorrow and pick up where we left off today."

Unofficial Times
01 Räikkönen Lotus C20 1:19.670 75 laps
02 Di Resta Force India VJM05 1:19.772 101 laps
03 Rosberg Mercedes GP W02 1:20.219 56 laps
04 Webber Red Bull RB8 1:20.496 54 laps
05 Ricciardo Toro Rosso STR7 1:20.694 57 laps
06 Schumacher Mercedes GP W02 1:20.794 42 laps
07 Kobayashi Sauber C31 1:21.353 106 laps
08 Button McLaren MP4-27 1:21.350 62 laps
09 Massa Ferrari F2012 1:22.815 69 laps
10 Kovalainen Caterham CT01 1:23.178 28 laps
11 Maldonado Williams FW34 1:23.371 25 laps
12 De la Rosa HRT F111 1:23.676 44 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Video: Kimi Räikkönen WRC Acropolis Day 1 highlights

Source: Formula1Arab

Jerez: Massa sets a blistering pace

Felipe Massa was the man to beat on the opening day of testing at Jerez, however, much of the focus in the paddock was on Robert Kubica

11 of the 12 teams, with only Hispania Racing missing from the line-up, hit the Spanish track at 9am on Thursday morning and one by one the cars came out of the pits carrying a message of support for the injured Kubica.

"Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robert," read the stickers on the cars, which translated means: "Get better soon Robert!"

Massa took the lead early in the morning as the Ferrari driver clocked a 1:20.709 midway through his opening 14-lap stint.

The Brazilian's time proved to be unbeatable as the day progressed with even Massa struggling to match it.

Sauber rookie Sergio Perez finished in second place, 0.774s behind Massa. He too set his best time early in the morning after venturing back out on track following a brief stoppage at the exit of Curva Jorge Martinez.

It was the first of the day's four red flags, the others belonging to Nico Rosberg, who stopped twice, and Vitaly Petrov, who spun off into the gravel.

Mark Webber claimed third place for Red Bull Racing while Toro Rosso test driver Daniel Ricciardo was a surprise in fourth place. The Australian test driver finished ahead of 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit, who had the honour of being the first to put McLaren's new MP4-26 through its paces, spent the day focusing on short runs. In fact, Hamilton's best time for the day was set on a single flying-lap run, similar to a qualifying run.

Jaime Alguersuari was sixth for Toro Rosso as he took over from Ricciardo in the afternoon while Adrian Sutil debuted Force India's VJM04. Like McLaren, Force India spent the day putting in short distance runs.

Petrov was eighth for Renault, finishing ahead of Nico Rosberg, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The latter was another driver debuting his team's 2011 challenger.

New Williams signing Pastor Maldonado finished at the very bottom of the timesheets after spending much of the day stuck in the pits. The Venezuelan's FW32 suffered a problem with the rear wing, limiting his running to just 13 laps.

Times
01. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.709 101 laps
02. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.483 + 0.774 94 laps
03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.522 + 0.813 94 laps
04. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m21.755 + 1.046 31 laps
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.914 + 1.205 58 laps
06. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.689 + 1.980 42 laps
07. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m23.472 + 2.763 28 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m23.504 + 2.795 57 laps
09. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.963 + 3.254 67 laps
10. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m24.458 + 3.749 54 laps
11. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m25.086 + 4.377 42 laps
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m34.968 + 14.259 13 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Valencia Day One: Vettel takes charge

Sebastian Vettel not only set the fastest lap time at Valencia on the opening day of pre-season testing but also demonstrated the RB7's consistent pace

Out on track immediately after Red Bull Racing launched their 2011 challenger at the Spanish circuit, Vettel's pace improved throughout the day, resulting in the reigning World Champion finishing the day at the top of the timesheets.

The German crossed the line with a 1:13.769, however, also demonstrated a more consistent pace over longer runs, lapping in the 1:15.8s to 1:15.9s.

Another German was right behind him on the timesheets with Nico Hulkenberg impressing his Force India team bosses.

Hulkenberg, who joined the team just days ago as their official test and reserve driver, was in action in last year's VJM-03. He finished the day 0.169s behind Vettel.

Gary Paffett, another driver using last year's car in order for his McLaren team to focus on Pirelli tyre testing, was third quickest ahead of Paul di Resta - Force India's new 2011 driver.

Fernando Alonso had a mixed day. Although he started at the top of the timesheets, the Spaniard dropped to fifth by the close of play, 0.784s behind Vettel.

The Ferrari driver also encountered a minor problem with his new F150 in the morning's session while his day ended with him stopping out on track on the final corner of the day's final lap.

Kamui Kobayashi made a solid start to Sauber's C30's preparations, claiming sixth place ahead of new Virgin signing Jerome D'Ambrosio. The latter was driving a modified version of last year's VR01.

Vitaly Petrov was another putting his team's new car through its pace. However, he amassed just 28 laps in Renault's R31.

Michael Schumacher had his first taste of the Merc GP W02 in the last hour of testing, completing 15 laps on his way to a 1:16.450.

The German, who was down to test in the afternoon, had his running cut short after team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was in action during the morning session, stopped out on track, bringing out the day's - and year's - first red flag. Rosberg, who had suffered a hydraulic problem, finished P13, 4.5s down on team-mate.

Toro Rosso and Williams also debuted their 2011 cars on Tuesday with Jaime Alguersuari 10th quickest ahead of Rubens Barrichello. The latter, though, reportedly had a few problems with his KERS unit.

Unofficial Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:13.769 93 laps
02. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:13.938 + 0.169s 71 laps
03. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.292 + 0.523s 91 laps
04. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:14.461 + 0.692s 28 laps
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:14.553 + 0.784s 97 laps
06. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.621 + 1.852s 68 laps
07. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:16.003 + 2.234s 71 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:16.351 + 2.582s 28 laps
09. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.450 + 2.681s 15 laps
10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.214 + 3.445s 19 laps
11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.335 + 3.566s 77 laps
12. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:18.020 + 4.251s 45 laps
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:19.930 + 6.161s 9 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Wrooom - Madonna di Campiglio in Pictures Day 1

Madonna di Campiglio monday...

...

KIMI TAKES ON THE GIANTS IN FRANCE

Red Bull Rally de France day one report

France has already developed a firm place in Finnish culture, as the world-famous Asterix books (which have sold 325 million copies worldwide) are available in no fewer than four regional dialects in Finland - including Helsinki slang, which Kimi Raikkonen would undoubtedly be familiar with.

Asterix tells the story of a brave little French soldier, with a big moustache, resisting the occupation of the mighty Roman army in ancient France. Kimi has quite a similar task on his hands this weekend, as he is up against massive local opposition who know their home territory intimately, cheered on by thousands of fans.

Kimi doesn't have a moustache, but he does have a huge amount of determination as well as backing from Red Bull this year: his first full season of the World Rally Championship. He needed every bit of confidence on the Rallye de France this morning, held in Sebastien Loeb's back garden over the slippery asphalt roads of Alsace.

October means winter, so conditions today were cold and wet: hardly an ideal backdrop for what was only Kimi's third World Championship asphalt rally. Nonetheless, at the end of eight trouble-free stages, Kimi brought his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC home in seventh place overall, with not a scratch on it. The 'Iceman' is now ready for action again over eight more stages tomorrow, and he is hoping for some warmer weather. Even Finns get cold sometimes.

"With the grip being really variable all the time, it wasn't easy for me to get used to everything and we were probably a bit too careful in the morning," said Kimi. "It's been quite slippery with a lot of mud and gravel on the road; much more than we expected. The first two cars clearly had the advantage and after that it was really difficult. But we've made no mistakes, which was important. We're learning new things all the time: it was the first time that we've driven in slippery conditions with downhill sections because on our last asphalt rally in Germany it was always flat. In the afternoon I wasn't completely confident with the car; we were sliding a lot at the back and it was difficult under braking. But we've set decent times all day, although we would like to be a little quicker, and now we just need to continue like this tomorrow."

Asterix has a sidekick called Obelix but instead Kimi Raikkonen can rely on his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom: who is as just as dependable as the Gaulish warrior, but smaller, lighter and with a much better sense of direction. Kaj has been pleased with Kimi's progress on the difficult conditions of the opening day in France and the Finn is looking forward to more action tomorrow.

"This is certainly the most tricky day on asphalt that we have contested so far on the World Rally Championship, so to come out of it setting top-eight stage times and in seventh overall is a great result, given Kimi's huge lack of experience compared to the other drivers here," said Kaj. "We've got a few ideas about tomorrow, so the plan is to carry on like this and keep building up experience. I'm very pleased that we have had no mistakes at all today, and our goal is to get a solid finish."

Source: RedBullRallye

RED BULL ON STAGE - JAPAN, KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN AND DAY 1.

Nothing is ever what it seems to be in Japan, especially the toilet

On the one hand, it looks like a toilet: it has a seat and a porcelain bowl. On the other hand, it has a set of controls next to it that look like they were stolen from an Apollo rocket.

The buttons on Kimi Raikkonen's steering wheel in his rally car control state-of-the art functions such as launch control and differential maps. The buttons on his toilet, back in the team hotel in Sapporo, are more to do with basic bodily functions.

The most advanced Japanese toilets allow the user to warm the toilet seat to a pre-determined heat, as well as choosing a temperature for the integrated shower bidet that cleans intimate areas. Afterwards, a fan gently dries the freshly washed regions while the user can even select some favourite music as an accompaniment to this activity.

The stages of Rally Japan are a lot less restful. Japan is well known for being one of the toughest events on the rally calendar, and this year is proving to be no exception for the 2007 Formula One World Champion. From the beginning Kimi took an understandably cautious approach to only his ninth World Championship event in the Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC, to be sure of making the finish on Sunday.

There was a bit of everything on the opening day's stages: narrow and twisty sections of road that were only one car-width wide, as well as faster and more open territory. Kimi ends the day in a points-scoring 10th place, having steered clear of mistakes and with a C4 WRC in immaculate condition.

"It's not been the easiest day I've spent in a rally car, but I was expecting this one to be tough right from the start," said the Red Bull driver. "There are a lot of good things too though: for a start we've had no mistakes and we've also had a good feeling with the pace notes all day, especially in the afternoon when we definitely felt more comfortable. The problem for me as usual is finding out how much grip there is and getting the right confidence with the car, but I think that this is normal for someone with my level of experience. Every rally and every stage is a different challenge: you just have to keep cool about it and keep learning, which is what I am doing. Tomorrow is another day and we're just going to carry on our work, with the aim of being at the finish. That's the most important thing."

It was the same message from co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, another man enjoying his trip to Japan but still learning the full functionality of the local toilets. "Everything's been under control all day, which is how we like it," Kaj said. "We had a set-up that was a bit too soft in the morning and that didn't help our confidence, but after we made some changes it was a lot better. We're looking forward to a good day tomorrow."

Another eight tough stages are waiting for the Red Bull crew of Kimi and Kaj in the morning, but the good news is that they have a reasonably civilised start, as the first service is not until 0900 and the first stage does not start until 1028. So there's plenty of time for some octopus for breakfast: another speciality of Japan.

Source: RedBullRallye

Kimi Räikkönen Interview after Day 1 at ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2010

Source: Citroën WRC

CITROËN JUNIORS, ADAC RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND – DAY 1

The Citroën Junior Team off to a solid start

Thanks to Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in fourth place – currently just 6.2 seconds off third – along with Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström in the top 10 at the end of the opening day, the Citroën Junior Team has made a solid start in Germany.

After the traditionally popular ceremonial start in front of the Porta Nigra – a city gate that dates from Roman times – the Rallye Deutschland got underway this morning from Trier for an opening day that consisted of 134.04 competitive kilometres, made up of two challenging loops of three stages.

On consistently dry roads, with temperatures peaking at 27°C during the afternoon, the Citroën Junior Team opted for soft tyres on the first loop of stages, followed by hard tyres for the second loop. In fact, all the leading drivers made exactly the same tyre choice on day one.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia set off running second on the road and used the opening day to get to grips with their Citroën C4 WRC on this specialised event. “It was quite a difficult morning,” said the Frenchman at midday service. “From time to time the engine kept stalling on hairpin bends. It meant that I wasn’t able to build up full confidence on these roads and I never really found the ideal pace. We’re setting the same sort of times as our direct competitors, and our plan is to try and do a bit better this afternoon.”

On the second loop of stages, Sébastien Ogier increased his pace in order to overhaul Mikko Hirvonen and get closer to Jari-Matti Latvala’s third place. “The afternoon was good,” added Ogier. “The car was perfect and I was able to go quickly. Now we need to continue like this. If we were able to get a podium, that would be a fantastic result for our first Rallye Deutschland in a WRC car.”

Kimi Räikkönen got off to a sensible start on what was only his second World Championship asphalt rally. “My priority was not to make any mistakes; this is also the objective for the whole rally,” he said. “The drivers at the front are setting a really quick pace, but I’m here to learn and make progress. The first loop of stages allowed me to get off to a good start and get used to using the handbrake on the many hairpin bends.”

The Finn’s step-by-step approach paid dividends. He improved his times by 0.7, 0.6 and then 1.0 seconds per kilometre over each of the three stages respectively in the afternoon. “ We’re picking up a better pace, ” said the former Grand Prix champion. “ I felt comfortable in the Citroën C4 WRC and I was able to go a bit quicker without taking any risks.

Tomorrow the stages will be very difficult and once more entirely new to me. We’ll have to see how it all goes. ”

Citroën Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded: “ Leaving aside the small mechanical problem that cost him around 15 seconds or so this morning, Sébastien Ogier has once more had a great first day. He’s heading towards third place behind the two factory Citroëns, which are in a league of their own here. A podium would be an amazing result for his debut in Germany with the C4 WRC.

Kimi Räikkönen is going up against drivers who already know this event very well. He paid for that lack of experience in the morning but made a lot of progress this afternoon and didn’t make any mistakes. Now he needs to carry on like this. ”

Source: Red Bull Rallye

Kimi Räikkönen After Day 1 at Neste Oil Rally Finland 2010

Source: Citroën WRC

NESTE OIL RALLY FINLAND 2010, DAY 1 - RÄIKKÖNEN

The first half of the Rally Finland has gone perfectly to plan for the Citroën Junior Team. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti are fifth overall, having set a fastest stage time in the land of the 1000 lakes. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström are currently eighth. A long day of 162 competitive kilometres remains on the programme for tomorrow.

The Rally Finland got underway on Thursday night with Laajavouri: a televised stage that used to form the shakedown for the event. Both Dani Sordo and Kimi Räikkönen made a careful start to finish in the top 10 on the opening test, held in a heatwave that saw Thursday’s temperatures peak at 37.2°C: a national record.

The second half of day one got underway at 0630 this morning with two loops of two special stages that were run consecutively, without a visit to the service park in Jyväskylä. Dani Sordo got off to a flying start from the very beginning of the event. After a sixth-quickest, a fifthquickest and a fourth-quickest time, the Spaniard set his very first fastest stage time in Finland on Jukojärvi 2:

"I’ve got a very good feeling,” he said. “The Citroën Junior Team’s C4 WRC suits me perfectly. We worked extremely well together with the team and I’m feeling very comfortable on these fast stages.” Kimi Räikkönen was competing on his home event for the second time and he also made progress with every kilometre that passed. Fulfilling all the goals that he had set himself to the letter, the former F1 World Champion returned to Jyväskylä occupying eighth place overall at midday service. “I used the first few stages just to get to grips with everything,” said the Finn. “The pace is extremely quick with the Citroën C4 WRC, much more than was the case last year! The car is perfect but I’m still lacking in both mexperience and confidence. I can see where I am losing time though.”

As he racked up the kilometres and built up his experience, Kimi was slowed on SS8 after Henning Solberg went off. “People were signalling for me to slow down,” he reported. “Afterwards, it was hard to find the right rhythm again. The stages that we are doing for the first time are the most difficult ones. I’m trying to attack but it’s a lot easier the second time round. We have to carry on like this now but make sure that we stay concentrated in order not to make any mistakes. Tomorrow is a long day and I hope that it will be a little easier.”

In the afternoon, Dani Sordo was not as comfortable as he had been in the morning. On these extremely specialised roads, where even the smallest mistake can carry serious consequences, the Spaniard preferred not to take any risks. “ I had some problems with my pace notes, ” he explained. “ You need 100% confidence to go quickly in Finland and that wasn’t the case for me then. I lost a few seconds but we are still in the running. We’re going to work hard with our stage videos tonight in order to push hard again tomorrow!”

With its new two-day format this year, the Rally Finland is due to finish tomorrow night. Eight special stages are in store for all the crews, totalling 162.78 kilometres.

Source: RedBullRally

Petter Solberg on top on day one in New Zealand

Petter Solberg has done it again, taking the lead on the opening day of World Rally Championship competition. The Norwegian campaigns a 2009 Citroen C4 as a privateer entry and already this season, the 2003 WRC champion has shown the potential of taking an overall event victory. He came close in Turkey, placing second to Sebastien Loeb.

"It has been very good today," said Solberg. "I have been calm, controlled and I feel great. The main thing for me is to know that Seb is behind me."

The first Norwegian to win a the World Rally title knows that there are still two days to contest and tomorrow he is the one who will sweep the roads, clearing them for his rivals.

"I just have to deal with it. Seb has done a good job today [cleaning the road] and I didn't do so bad myself [running just behind]", Solberg said who is only 1.4 seconds ahead of Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala.

In fact the elder statesman of the series has three young guns behind him. All want to take the lead, mainly on the final day as the loose gravel can cause anyone to slip and the sweeper each day has the hardest job.

Latvala leads the pack in his Ford Focus but only 2.5 seconds behind him is the Citroen Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier. Citroen's Dani Sordo sits 4.8 seconds off of the pace of Ogier.

In the morning stages, points leader Loeb was cleaning the roads and watching his rivals take the wins. Solberg and Ogier each had one apiece while Sordo took two.

On stage four, Loeb damaged his Citroen on a bridge and went from fourth to eighth. He ended the day in the special Auckland Domain with the win to move to seventh overall, over one minute adrift of Solberg.

"I lost the back of the car on the entry to a tight corner over a bridge," explained Loeb. "The back of the car slid and hit the bridge. I thought it was okay, so we drove on, but it wasn't and I was about to lose the door. I knew it was just a remote service after, so I had to keep the door. I stopped for one minute to try and close the door. I couldn't so I held it closed. The dust was very bad."

The overall lead traded off in the afternoon with Ogier taking two wins, Loeb on top in SS7 and Solberg adding to his earlier win.

Times after Day 1:

1. Petter SOLBERG 1:35:51.3
2. Jari-Matti LATVALA M 1:35:52.7
3. Sebastien OGIER 1:35:55.2
4. Dani SORDO M 1:36:00.0
5. Mikko HIRVONEN M 1:36:11.5
6. Matthew WILSON M 1:37:01.0
7. Sebastien LOEB M M 1:37:36.6
9. Jari KETOMAA S 1:40:09.3
10. Xavier PONS S 1:40:31.8
11. Federico VILLAGRA M 1:40:41.3

Source: WRC - Motorsport
Courtesy: luieluv

DELIGHT IN TURKEY FOR KIMI AND KAJ

Kimi Räikkönen Red Bull Rally of Turkey day one report

Mint, cinnamon, pistachio, roses and walnut: all flavours of lokum, which is better known throughout the world as 'Turkish delight'.

These exotic flavours sound considerably more romantic than the fattening reality of the ingredients: starch and sugar. So Turkish delight is not recommended for anybody on a diet. Nor is it a great present for people who are colour blind or have an uncontrollable hatred of traffic lights, given that Turkish delight mainly comes in red, yellow and green varieties.

There are many stories as to how the original sweet was created. One story says that it was commissioned by a Sultan to please his many wives. Napoleon, Pablo Picasso and Winston Churchill are just three of the famous people to have loved this Turkish treasure ever since.

But Kimi Raikkonen doesn't need sugary desserts to feel the delight in Turkey. And it wasn't just Red Bull giving him wings either: a spectacular jump on stage four of the Rally of Turkey launched all the cars several metres into the air. So far, round four of the World Rally Championship has been a breathtaking show.

After a great opening day that concluded with a superspecial in the centre of Istanbul, Kimi ended up in a solid eighth place overall with two tough days of the Rally of Turkey still to go. So he's not drawing any conclusions just yet.

"It's been good today," said the Iceman. "We've really been sticking with the tactic of going at a comfortable speed in order to make sure that we get to the finish and hopefully score some points. Actually, it's really hard to say how the rest of the rally will go because all the days are very different, but the main thing is that we're enjoying ourselves - especially over the big jumps! We've had no problems at all today: on one stage this morning I didn't have such a great feeling, but for only our fourth WRC rally in this car it's going well. There's obviously a lot more to come from us, so it's simply a question of learning."

Kaj Lindstrom, the voice of experience inside the Red Bull car, was also delighted by Kimi's progress in Turkey. "Today was just what we were after: a nice, solid beginning to the rally that sets us up well for the challenge of tomorrow," he said. "I think that's going to be the hardest day of the event, as we've got some really tough roads and long stages. But Kimi is taking everything in his stride: nothing bothers him. Making the switch to rallying is a massive challenge, so he's a brave guy. But I think everyone knew that already!"

Source: Red Bull - RallyBuzz

Rally of Turkey stage guides - Friday

After Thursday afternoon’s ceremonial start in Istanbul, the proper competitive action of Rally of Turkey kicks off on Friday with one of the longest road trips of the season.

Driving non-competitive liaison sections between Special Stages is one of the features that sets rallying apart from other forms of motorsport, but Friday’s opening day in Turkey is one of the most extreme examples. With 98km of timed stages and a marathon 333km of road sections, Friday’s liaison to stage ratio is one of the lowest of the year at just 27 per cent.

After leaving the Service Park from 0800hrs, crews trek northeast for a loop of four consecutive stages before returning to Pendik for a 30-minute service. In the afternoon crews repeat the same four stages before another long drive to the asphalt Superspecial in Istanbul. The 45-minute end of day service gets underway at 2130hrs.

Here are our wrc.com stage notes for Friday’s stages. Under the summaries you'll find our list of essential website links to help you follow the rally via our live results service.

SS1/SS5: Darlik. 15.66km
Rally of Turkey begins with one of its toughest stages. Darlik winds down the side of a valley from the start, then becomes super fast as it reaches the valley floor and crosses over a dam wall. It's an awkward piece of road, with lots of adverse camber corners and no natural flow, so it will be tricky for the drivers to settle into any kind of comfortable rhythm. Of note in this stage is the number of huge, blind crests - it’s like a roller coaster in places. Generally the stage winds through open countryside but things slow a bit in last third as it goes through a tighter tree-lined section.

SS2/SS6: Karabeyli. 8.23km
In contrast to Darlik, Karabeyli is generally quite narrow but the road flows a bit better. It’s one of the few stages in Turkey to have a consistent surface; there's generally a light covering of gravel over a hard packed base, so if it stays dry this stage will clean quite a lot. The stage ends in a tree-lined section on the valley floor.

SS3/SS7: Bozgoca. 13.52km
The third stage of the loop is a tale of two distinct halves. It starts hard and fast - like Karabeyli - then at the midway point it turns left on to a more open moorland road with no natural flow to it - like Darlik. After climbing uphill and then dropping down into the valley from the start, the stage becomes fairly quick and flowing from the 7km point. In general, there is a thicker layer of gravel on the road surface here than the previous two, so it should clean only in some places.

SS4/SS8: Halli. 9.60km
Run entirely through open land, this stage is absolutely flat out from start to finish except for two chicanes in the last two kilometres to bring speeds down. Even including these measures Halli is likely to be the fastest stage of the rally. The route features a number of flat out blind crests, and a huge jump across tarmac road at the 3km point. The surface is quite smooth and should clean throughout.

SS9: SSS Istanbul. 2.20km
The day ends with an all-asphalt head-to-head Superspecial in central Istanbul. The stage was measured at 1.8km during the recce. The layout is extremely technical; with numerous hairpin corners, an extremely steep jump and a tunnel to negotiate. Running an asphalt stage on gravel tyres is going to limit the amount of grip available here - and things will get worse if it rains.

You can follow the rally via the WRC's official website here.

Source: WRC

[Video]: Valencia Testing Day 1

Source: YouTube

Thanks: Amanda