F1 champ rallies in Lapland

by - 1/23/2009 11:19:00 p.m.

Kimi Räikkönen will try his hand at a different sport when he competes in the Arctic Lapland Rally.

This year’s Arctic Lapland Rally will see F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen make his debut in rally racing. Räikkönen will swap his sleek F1 Ferrari for a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000. His wingman in the arctic race will be Kaj Lindström. Lindström has been a co-driver for four-time rally world champion Tommi Mäkinen.

The 44th Arctic Lapland Rally will also see the return of former F1 driver, 1998 and 1999 champion, Mika Häkki-
nen. He has raced in the Arctic Lapland Rally three times before, in 2003, 2004 and 2006. This year he will be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 with Ilkka Kivimäki as co-driver.

Finnish F1 drivers seem to really enjoy racing rally cars in ice and snow, since this year’s entrants also include Mika Salo and JJ Lehto. All Finnish former F1 drivers taking part in the Arctic Lapland Rally will be driving with the same car, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9. Salo’s co-driver is Mika Ovaskainen, while JJ Lehto will have Jari Jyrkiäinen as his.

With this year’s F1 season starting at the end of March, many teams wouldn’t allow their drivers to take part in dangerous activities such as rallying in freezing weather conditions, but Ferrari's team boss Stefano Domenicali thinks differently. He sees the arctic rally as two extra days of testing for Räikkönen.

The race takes place on 22-24 January in the terrain near Rovaniemi.

[via helsinki times]

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