Raikkonen to make WRC debut

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 21:04:00 2009

Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen will make his World Rally Championship debut against the likes of Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen in his native Finland at the end of July.

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The 2007 Formula One world champion, who has already competed in three non-championship rallies this year, will enter Rally Finland in a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto with compatriot Kaj Lindstrom as co-driver.

Lindstrom was formerly co-driver to four-times world champion Tommi Makinen.

"Rally Finland is not going to be easy for sure," Lindstrom told the autosport.com website. "The rallies we have done so far have been smaller events, a three-day WRC round is much longer and more intense than those national events.

"We have two days to go through the recce (reconnaissance) and make the notes. Kimi makes very good pace notes but there will be pressure on for the recce.

"One of the hardest things for Kimi will be the speed of this event. Rally Finland and the roads used are so fast, like nothing we have done before.

"But, let's not forget, this guy is a pretty good driver. He's very talented and I'm sure he will cope fine."

Rally Finland starts the Friday after the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix in Budapest on July 26.

Ford's Hirvonen leads Citroen's five-times world champion Loeb by a point going in to the ninth of the season's 12 rallies.

Raikkonen, 29, has competed in two rallies in Finland and one in Italy since the start of the year. He has scored just 10 points from eight grands prix this year in Formula One.

Reuters

Comment 3 - 22 of 22

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  1. As an ex driver and co driver of 14 years fun and­ pleasure and having emptied my pockets doing in with­ pleasure, I can only praise Kimi for coming into the­ best motor sport in the world which is WRC. It will be­ a very hard baptism, but I know he will enjoy it. Kimi,­ just remember the old saying - to finnish first, first­ you have to finnish. Seee which stages suit you, then­ which suit the car, drive these 10/10ths and those you­ dont like u drive 8/10th and survive. Have fun. Tricky­ if it rains - which it invariably does on this hairy­ event. A good result will grant you an open seat next­ season. NO POLITICS in wrc - just MEN with­ bighairyballs

    From Rob, on Mon 20 Jul 8:05AM

  2. Is he leaving F1??

    From Callum, on Sat 18 Jul 8:31PM

  3. good luck to Kimi i think it will be good for him to be­ away from ferrari`s evil clutches

    From geoffrey, on Thu 16 Jul 1:41PM

  4. Rossi was driving WRC car and Kimi will drive Fiat­ Abarth Grande Punto.

    From Damir, on Thu 2 Jul 9:59AM

  5. not very mobile when he's stuck in a ditch. Becomes­ a new hazard unmarked on the following drivers­ pacenotes.

    From the real adrian, on Wed 1 Jul 8:52AM

  6. Ah, so Kimi decides to become a mobile chicane in the­ Forest's of Finland as well

    From Reefgirl, on Wed 1 Jul 8:24AM

  7. It will be interesting to see if his results match that­ of Valentino Rossi on his WRC drives

    From scaryjohn1, on Wed 1 Jul 7:19AM

  8. POTTER POTTER POTTER, you is brainless and boring! now­­ lick my arse or f**k off..lol..

    From brucef1lee, on Tue 30 Jun 11:58PM

  9. AND IL HAVE A BET THAT - THE PERU PERV

    HAS NEVER BEEN­ TO DONINGTON !!

    ALTHOUGH HE LIVE NOT TOO FAR AWAY

    AND­ IF HE CANT AFFORD A "BURGER" AT­ SILVERSTONE

    MY ADVISE - IS - LEAVE THE U.K.

    PLEASE­ !!!!!

    PLEASE STOP POSTING - ANTI BRITISH $HITE

    From MC A, on Tue 30 Jun 11:40PM

  10. MARINO peru - PERU - MORE LIKE BRADFORD !!! YOU­ TO$$POT

    YOU ARE JUST an AR$E !!!
    AND - POTTER IS­ UP YOUR AR$E !!!

    COMPLETE PAIR OF MU$LIM MUPPET$

    From MC A, on Tue 30 Jun 11:34PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    mea got a pottea wife fora a lickin anda sniffing a­­ @#$% a donkey mea not a too sure a whata you been a­­ sniffin mea think you a spend all a day in sweaty hot­ a­ field witha many other a sweaty hot a donkeys a too­­ mea wonder a what you a do all a day mea think you­ isa­ the sniffer and a licker a too if you a like You­ the­ bigger a Muppet a Donkey a more a even thana sad a­­ site a angel

    From , on Tue 30 Jun 10:58PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    mea got a pottea wife fora a lickin anda sniffing a­­ @#$% a donkey mea not a too sure a whata you been a­­ sniffin mea think you a spend all a day in sweaty hot­ a­ field witha many other a sweaty hot a donkeys a too­­ mea wonder a what you a do all a day mea think you­ isa­ the sniffer and a licker a too if you a like You­ the­ bigger a Muppet a Donkey a more a even thana sad a­­ site a angel

    From , on Tue 30 Jun 10:58PM

  13. I dont blame him, F1 is boring this year

    From Matthew B, on Tue 30 Jun 9:39PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    look my f1 buddies, the truth is that the uk no longer­­ deserve the f1 race.
    what have uk done in f1 apart­ from­ darken the doors of the motor racing world with­ the­ mclaren ruffian team?
    surely to have the f1 race­ you­ must have at least some interest in the car. the­ uk car­ industry extinct and all the people want to do­ in the­ uk is punish the car driver to fund the­ bankrupt­ government. if you drive car in the uk you­ treated­ worse than the pig who started the swine­ flu.
    the­ facilities very poor in the uk as well and­ everything­ so the expensive.
    if you buy the cooled can­ of the­ fizzy drink at silverstoned you need the low­ interest­ loan and a swiss banker .
    if you want to buy­ the ham­ burger at silverstoned you need to rob the­ building­ society and have the MP expenses.
    and this­ doddington­ park place not any better. this place not­ fit to race­ the mule.
    uk is the worn out, downtrodden,­ forgotten­ and embarrassment of the f1 world and should­ be put out­ of its misery for the good.

    From marnio from peru, on Tue 30 Jun 9:29PM

  15. It was standard for most of the British F1 drivers to­ take part in the RAC Rally. Believe it was James Hunt­ who got on the radio to report that he'd hit a­ tree. The Ford guys asked "Any damage?" ­ "Knocked some bark off and broke some­ twigs."
    We might end up with Kimi and Vale going­ head to head.

    From Nxxx, on Tue 30 Jun 5:47PM

  16. The top drivers from any discipline can flourish in­ other disciplines.
    There are a number of top F1 drivers­ who have done well in rallying.

    From the real adrian, on Tue 30 Jun 2:00PM

  17. I have never been a Kimi fan but I gotta say it is­ great to see a race driver who wants to be a Race­ Driver! Anyone willing to try another form of­ motorsport will always get my respect.

    From TeamJuanF1, on Tue 30 Jun 1:10PM

  18. If Kimi has lost his passion for driving a Ferrari, he­ should man up and leave F1, problem is he has a passion­ for those Ferrari pension cheques :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Tue 30 Jun 9:52AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    he will not be any good

    From RYAN, on Tue 30 Jun 6:35AM

  20. Kimi is a Formula 1 champion and will always be one. ­ If he wants to try another type of racing, why not? ­ Since he already won the F1 championship what more is­ there for him to achieve? He is one of the best­ drivers. I would like to see him do well in rally. I­ think a great driver will be great no matter what type­ of car he drives.

    From BJ, on Tue 30 Jun 1:49AM
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