Rally of Turkey 2010

[Leijona]

aww Nikki, that's so cute

I didn't cry but got a little teary-eyed. This was a special day

I actually cried when Kimi won the WDC. But I didn't cry immediately after he won since I got so carried away and went absolutely nuts. Kinda embarrasing actually...

[sleenster]

Rally Turkey: Red Bull final leg summary
Racing series WRC
Date 2010-04-18

KIMI OVERCOMES (ALMOST) EVERYTHING IN TURKEY

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a fantastic Rally of Turkey, finishing fifth overall to add more points to his rally total and score his best ever result in a rally car. But while Kimi's reactions and car control are awesome, there are some things that even a former Grand Prix champion cannot control - such as erupting volcanoes.

More than 500 people from the different world rally teams have been left stranded in Turkey - and Kimi and Kaj are two of them. Kimi's solution will probably consist of flying to somewhere in Italy and then embarking on a long car journey back to his home in Switzerland.

Kimi's Citroen Junior Team will head back to their base in Paris on a fleet of buses, while other people are looking at solutions involving boats and trains. Ironically, the rally's base in Istanbul was the traditional terminus of the Orient Express, the luxury train service that used to link France's capital with Turkey.

The world of rallying may not always be glamorous, but Kimi is thoroughly enjoying it after a fault-free Rally of Turkey in which he showed that he is a quick learner. On only his ninth-ever rally, the Iceman beat several drivers with far more experience and set stage times that were never out of the top 10 - and often in the top six.

"I'm really pleased with the way it's gone," said Kimi. "There was nothing particularly special; we just paid good attention to the pace notes and made sure that we made no mistakes. The stages were really tough, particularly on the last day when it was very muddy: it felt like driving on ice. I'm learning all the time and that's a really nice feeling: a bit like my early days of circuit racing. I'm very happy, although I have no idea exactly how we are getting home tonight. It really doesn't matter; I'm sure we'll find a way..."

Kaj Lindstrom was also reminded of his earlier days in rallying. "It's been really nice to be involved in a new project from the very beginning, and to help a driver develop in rallying," he said. "The fact that it is with Kimi and Red Bull just makes it all the more special for me. I have to say that he has been really impressive on this event: you would never guess that he has so little experience in a rally car. I know that we can build on this progress now."

The next event for Kimi and Kaj in the Red Bull Citroen will be the Rally of Portugal from May 28-30, but before then they are hoping to do some testing in order to increase their experience.

-source: red bull

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article. ... 682&FS=WRC


Kimi says he has no idea how he'll get home tonight.....

[apple]

Kaj said to YLE that its his pleasure to continue with Kimi if Kimi desides to contine after this season in rally. He says he doesnt know it as they havent talked about it at all.

[Leijona]

http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/125728.html

A fast journey home crowned Kimi's rally
Turun Sanomat 18.4 2010 22:39:54

Kimi Räikkönen has taken ten WC-points when winning a F1-grand prix. From Turkey Rally Kimi also took ten WC-points when bringing his Citroen C4 WRC-car 5th to the finish.

A indisputable progress and flawless performance raised these ten points to the level of a winning-atmosphere.

Citroen Junior Team's boss Benoit Nogier thanked Räikkönen's performance and speed of progress.

- Kimi is going forward with speed. Now he has succeeded to run away from those drivers with whom he still faught at the beginning of this race. This is very encouraging progress from Kimi as a rally-driver, Nogier praises.

Räikkönen's good weekend was fulfilled when the flight back home was organised on Sunday-evening on a private jet from Istanbul to Nizza, from where he drives back home to Switzerland.

Speed of progress in order

Co-driver Kaj Lindtröm was once again pleased when the star-student is improving race by race at least according to the most demanding exceptations.

- Of course this kind of result is good when Kimi doesn't have much of experience in rally. It wasn't flawless, but almost. On a few stages the engine stalled at the same intersection , but that was it.

The Turkey Rally, which was taken to a new route, gave Räikkönen and Lindström also a good situational review.

- At this point of Kimi's career-development one don't have to wonder anymore what is the difference to the top when the rally-route is unfamiliar to everyone. I didn't yet calculate the different stages but it probably lies around 1 second, Lindström said.

A part of the routes was driven on tarmac, which was the third element where Räikkönen is driving for the first time on a WRC-car.

- I was probably too careful on tarmac until I realized how much grip there were. I'm pretty satisfied with my pace, Räikkönen said.

According to Lindström experience can't be called tarmac-driving.

- We drove on gravel settings and gravel tires. It is a totally different thing when we drive the first actual tarmac-rally in July in Bulgary, he reminded.

Naturally Räikkönen's end result was maximized by the set-backs experienced by the two drivers who belong to the top 6, Dani Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala.

- Of course others' unfortune helped but it belongs to the spirit of motorsport, Räikkönen reminded.


Braking on the last stage

Sunday's ending stage was according to Räikkönen the most difficult of the weekend. There Lindström had to brake [slow] the driver, so they stayed on the road.

- The last stage was more than slippery and very difficult. It had to be taken carefully so that the race wouldn't get a bad ending, Räikkönen explained.

There is a one week pause ahead. Räikkönen won't participate in New Zealand WRC-rally and will drive next in Portugal at the end of May.


Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

[Anelise]

Thanks Leijona!!!!!!!!

[Anelise]

Kimi Räikkönen Interview After Day 3 in Rally of Turkey 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mYQXDqVr_o

[ish678]

Fifth?! Fifth?! That is just out of this world!!! I was away from the computer all day again and had no idea what happened today until I watched the hour long round up on TV. I was a bag of nerves in front of the screen! This is such a great feeling! I hope he doesn't forget everything by the time he gets to Portugal!

[Kiki]

Thanks for the vid Anelise!

It's been ok?! no Kimi it's been amazing, what you've done was just awesome i'm so proud of you and Kaj.

See you in Portugal or maybe sooner at the Monaco GP.

[Leijona]

YLE article from yesterday

http://yle.fi/urheilu/lajit/moottoriurh ... 14686.html

Co-driver praised Räikkönen's skills

For Kimi Räikkönen fifth place in Turkey WRC-rally was a fantastic result. Räikkönen was behind Citroen's French-star Sebastien Loeb, who was the winner of the rally, by approximately 7 minutes. Co-driver Kaj Lindström praised Räikkönen's performance.

- A great performance from Kimi. Of course there can always be improvement but this result gives energy for Kimi for the coming challenges, Lindström said.

According to Lindström one could see in Turkey how close Kimi drives to the top drivers when everyone are forced to drive in roads they don't know beforehand. In most of the WRC-rallies Räikkönen has to learn stages while the more experienced drivers know the routes better.

- Turkey was a new race for everyone. Now we know where we are going. In the future we aim to narrow off the difference to the top. Bulgary might be the next good place for comparison because there the roads are new for everyone, Lindström pondered.

Lindström reminded that through experience rally-driver's driving rhythm improves. At the same time the driver learns to pay more accurately attention to the notes from the co-driver and the pace accelerates even more.

- Polishing the notes to the stage that you trust them 110 procent comes through experience.

According to Lindström, Kimi is dedicated to rally with certainty only for this year.

- I won't by any means decline cooperation if Kimi wants to continue in rally after this season too. But it is too early to think about that, we have not talked about this issue even with each other yet, Lindström said.

[Kinga]

Thanks, Leijona!

Kaj rocks!

[luieluv]

YLE article from yesterday

http://yle.fi/urheilu/lajit/moottoriurh ... 14686.html

Co-driver praised Räikkönen's skills

According to Lindström, Kimi is dedicated to rally with certainty only for this year.

- I won't by any means decline cooperation if Kimi wants to continue in rally after this season too. But it is too early to think about that, we have not talked about this issue even with each other yet, Lindström said.

This, this to me suggests that options are wide open

[luieluv]

Q&A with LOEB:

Petter Solberg is your closest rival in the drivers' championship now. How do you asses his performance in Turkey?
"I think he did really well. He was fast in most of the stages and very fast in others. He found a rhythm, and seemed to have understood really well how the car is working. He's starting to be dangerous."

And he says he has more to give...
"He says a lot of things! We will see."

[ReAlien]

I honestly tried to read all the posts made during the weekend while I was away on my bike, but I gave up after reading 40-50 pages in one go.. You wrote so much here! If you're not following it during the day, it is horrendously difficult to catch up.

Anyways, thank you all for your posts and info, this place is best for rally coverage and atmosphere is ever great, I rejoice in the Kimi's results and share all of the excitement you all've poured in in this thread, you're the best!

[Anelise]

Kimi Räikkönen Interview MTV3 in Rally of Turkey 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s70WDbfA99o

[alex1369]

well done kimi, 5th is great, he finnaly found his form... and also petter for 2nd, hope he can win soon, its been a long time since he won a rally