Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula One world champion, had his first taste of Citroën's C4 WRC that he will drive in this year's World Rally Championship. Wearing plain overalls, the Finn completed about 50 kilometers of running on a private gravel test track close to Citroën's Paris headquarters.


The test was designed for Räikkönen to familiarize himself with the C4 WRC through an initial shakedown run before he competes in his first event with the car, the Arctic Rally, starting on Jan. 28. Afterwards, he will contest his first WRC event, the Swedish Rally, Feb. 12-14.


"I really enjoyed meeting the team properly for the first time," Räikkönen said. "It was good to try out a few different things; I was very interested to see how the car reacted when you changed some of the settings. Now, I'm really keen to drive the car again."


Räikkönen will use co-driver Kaj Lindstrom throughout the season. Lindstrom previously partnered four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen. "There's no doubt in my mind that Kimi is good enough to be up there with the best," said Lindstrom. "He's a very natural driver."


Räikkönen, 29, was accompanied by Citroën's engineers throughout the test, which was held in cold and snowy conditions.


Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100114/WRC/100119938#ixzz0esCzD6cG