Kimi Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindtsrom is confident the Finn's improvement on the stages will continue on this week's Acropolis Rally, despite a two-month lay-off since his last outing.

Raikkonen's last event was the Jordan Rally, where he finished sixth, just missing out on equaling his best ever WRC result in his Citroen DS3 WRC. Since the Middle East event, Raikkonen has had just one day of testing in the Citroen - a day spent close to Marseille in France last week.

Lindstrom said: "The test was a good day, not just to improve the feeling in the car but also to test a few [set-up] things for Greece. There were no problems [getting back in the car after two months away] because Kimi felt comfortable straight away and found the feeling. The road was rough and loose for the test, a bit like what I remember Greece to be, but it's a long time since I was there."

This week's Acropolis will be Raikkonen's first taste of the notoriously tough Greek roads.

"Sure it will be a new rally for Kimi but he will be okay," said Lindstrom. "We made some improvements to the car in the test and Kimi was confident, no question. Like in Jordan he felt comfortable in the car and I think we can see another strong performance by him.

"It's always difficult to say what that result will be and there's still a long way to go [for his learning] but we are closing the gap all of the time and I'm confident we will be even closer in Greece.

"The first day of the event is a tough day with only remote service but I don't think the approach will be any different. It's the same for everybody, a matter of luck if you have problems or not. If something breaks you know you have to live with it and get through. We will look to make a clean run but I am not that concerned for Kimi."

Raikkonen's team manager Benoit Nogier was equally confident in the former Formula 1 world champion's ability to deal with a new event. The Frenchman added: "We were very happy with his performance in Jordan and he has a good opportunity for Greece.

"We found a road with a condition as close as possible to Greece and Kimi was quite happy. It will be a tough rally, not necessarily for the drivers but for the cars. The first day is very long with only a remote service but Kimi is not a rookie anymore and will be able to manage this situation."

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This weekend, the seventh round of the World Rally Championship will take place in Greece. In addition to the two Citroën Total World Rally Team cars, Citroën Racing Technologies is supplying four DS3 WRCs available for Petter Solberg, Kimi Räikkönen, Peter van Merksteijn Jr and Peter van Merksteijn Sr, which they are running in their respective teams.

A week before the Acropolis Rally, Citroën Racing Technologies held a test session in the Marseille region to prepare for one of the most demanding events of the 2011 season. Kimi Räikkönen, Peter van Merksteijn Jr and Peter van Merksteijn Sr drove the Citroën DS3 WRC to get the right feel for the car and test different setups.

"We ran on roads similar to those that the crews will face in Greece," commented Benoît Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies manager. "Like the ones that make up the route, we had a section that was a real car breaker and another that was quicker. Our drivers were happy with this base and the setups of the DS3 WRC."

At the beginning of the week, it was Petter Solberg’s turn to shakedown his car in Greece. "It was a good run to make sure everything was working properly," Nogier went on. "Petter has always been quick on this type of terrain. He can score a very good result here."

"Kimi Räikkönen is having his first outing in this rally, but his performances in Turkey and Jordan on stages like these prove he has the right skills to adapt to difficult conditions where necessary. He has a good opportunity to show what he can do. Fifth or sixth place overall wouldn’t be a surprise. The aim of the two Van Merksteijn Motorsport drivers is to finish. The whole team’s worked very hard to get the DS3 WRCs ready to tackle the Greek roads."

Friday, the first day of the event will already be a severe test with 141,33 timed kilometers, and a single remote service halt halfway through the leg. The next day, the crews will have to cover another 141,89 kilometers with a night stage. The rally will finish on Sunday at 15h30 after 18 stages. After scoring two podium finishes in the last two rallies, the Petter Solberg World Rally Team lies fourth in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Ice 1 Racing is sixth at the moment.

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After his successful debut at the Arctic Lapland Rally in late January Kimi Räikkönen has apparently infected himself with the Rally virus. He already will start again at an event in just one week.

Kimi's participation at the SM Vaakuna Rally on 20th and 21st February has been officially confirmed yesterday. Like at the Arctic Lapland Rally Kimi will sit behind the wheel of a Fiat Grande Punto S2000 together with his co-driver Kaj Lindström.

According to Kaj Lindström, the renewed participation at a rally event is no coincidence. Kimi has purchased the Fiat Grande Punto. And the price of the car was simply too high to use it just for one race. Even before his adventure at the Arctic Lapland Rally it was Kimi's plan to start on several rallies, if it is allowed by his diary.

Nevertheless, the rally sport remains a hobby of Kimi. His aim is to provide a clean an good race and to gain some new experiences. The re-attendance at a rally was also supported by the late start of the new Formula One season Formula 1 at the end of March.

Prior to the start of his second rally event, Kimi will have an extensive test with the new Ferrari F60 in Bahrain. He is scheduled to test the car on 12th and 13th of February as well as on the 16th and 17th of February.

[source]

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen swapped tarmac for snow at the weekend as he made his debut in the punishing Arctic Lapland Rally. Fellow Finns Mika Hakkinen and Mika Salo were among the other Formula One names taking part.

Raikkonen looked very much at home in the freezing conditions. Along with co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, he steered his Fiat Grande Punto S2000 to 13th place overall, finishing the three-day event in a total time of 2h, 7m, 48s, less than 10 minutes down on winner Juha Salo.

Hakkinen was not far behind. The former double world champion, at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, came home 19th in what was his fourth appearance in the rally. Salo was less fortunate, retiring his similar Mitsubishi with technical problems.

[via f1.com]

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]

During the summer months, there were many rumors that Raikkonen was going to up and leave his current career for either something he was passionate about, or leave racing altogether

While many speculated as to his future, Ford M-Sport director Malcolm Wilson even offered Raikkonen a testing session in the Ford Focus WRC car.

In June 2008, Bleacher Report Analyst James Walker wrote an article regarding a possible future for Raikkonen in rally racing.

Raikkonen has admitted that he still has not competed seriously in a rally, but in an interview with Fox Sports stated, "at some time, I want to try rallying. That interests me."

Now with Raikkonen entering into his first rally, with countryman Mikka Hakkinen, a future in rallying may be very real.

With his deal with Ferrari ending after the 2009 season, Kimi's admitted lack of interest in the series may compound to a switch into the World Rally Championship (WRC) or up-and-coming Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

[via BleacherReport]

The Finn will not be the only F1 name in the mix as reports indicate former world champion Mika Hakkinen will also be competing.

[via Fox News]

Former world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen are no strangers to the pressures of Formula One racing, but the Finnish pair are preparing to sample a different motorsport challenge later this month, after agreeing to compete in this year’s arduous Arctic Lapland Rally.

For Ferrari driver Raikkonen this year’s rally will be his first and for his debut the 29 year-old will race a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000, alongside co-driver Kaj Lindstrom. Hakkinen, who contested the rally in 2003, 2004 and 2006, will be at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9, together with Ilkka Kivimaki.

This year's staging of the annual event, which sees top drivers tackle freezing weather conditions as they race around Northern Finland in the heart of the Arctic Circle, will take place from January 22-24. Previous winners include former world rally champions Marcus Gronholm, Tommi Makinen and Hannu Mikkola.

[via F1]

Kimi Raikkonen turned up at the servicepark of the IRC Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland, with his elder rallying brother Rami, to visit Anton Alen.

Kimi couldn't help himself but he had to have a sit in Alen's Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000. He looked really happy behind the wheel of a rally car and has stated previously that he will go rallying when he stops F1.

Raikkonen looks natural and happy behind the wheel of a rally car.

Raikkonen has recently been offered a test drive by Malcolm Wilson in an M-Sport Ford Focus, though he hasn't confirmed if this will happen.

With Fiat making noises about joining the WRC in 2010/11 it would be a tantalising prospect to have Kimi line up for them, with Alen as team-mate following in his father Markku's footsteps. One can dream!