http://www.arcticrally.fi/mGallery/2010/Jun/IMG_4495.jpg

Kimi will get #3 for the rally. Same as MS' lucky number, that must be a good omen

PS - Anyone know when the first stage is starting tomorrow?

http://www.arcticrally.fi/english/itinenary.html

Live timing will be here:

http://tulossivu.autourheilu.fi/

COMMENT FROM ARCTIC-RALLY: KIMI's HUGE ATTRACTION
28.01.2010 21:55

http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/r...2010/873579.jpg

Arctic Lapland -rally has this year more media-people than ever before.

The rally has 176 accredited representers of the media. The figure is three-doubled compared to the normal Arctic-rally years. 41 reporters and photographers have arrived from abroad, from nine different countries.

Arctic-rally was prepared to receive 50 photographers but there would have been 80 willing to come.

When I arrived to the press center they were astonished over the fact that they were running out of the passes for reporters.

The reason for all this is of course that the F1-WDC Kimi Räikkönen will drive his dress rehearsal for the WRC-season.

Today Kimi was in a good mood in the press meeting his employer Red Bull had arranged - and he most certainly was not silent so the reporters will have enough to write about the Iceman's actions in Rovaniemi.
MTV3 – Jani Merimaa

RÄIKKÖNEN: NO IDEA OF THE PACE

28.01.2010 20:40
http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/r...2010/873552.jpg

Kimi Räikkönen can't predict at all how he will do in this season's races in Citroen's WRC-car.

- Because I have absolutely no idea of what my pace is compared to the others it's quite difficult to go and guess anything, Räikkönen said to MTV3.

- I feel a bit excited. I haven't raced one kilometer with this car so far. Only a few tests but it's hard to tell anything because I don't know what to compare it to. When you drive at one road it's not difficult. But when we go to the stages and you have to drive flat out immediately, that's going to be difficult, Kimi admits.

- Let's just try to get some good rallies and improve the pace as soon as it's possible. I have so much to learn that it's useless to do something incredibly stupid at first. Maybe it's easier to tell after a few rallies. Then we see where we go and if I can improve the pace at some point, Kimi said.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

(Translation courtesy of Nicole)

SORDO WILL SHOW THE WRC-PACE TO KIMI

Turun Sanomat 28.1 2010 17:42:18

Tunturi-ralli's – or more EU-wise Arctic Lapland Rally – feelings are more higher than usual at the eve of the rally. Daniel Sordo and Kimi Räikkönen will participate in the traditional national rally as outsiders and attract a huge international interest.

– The world will go crazy over this, rally-boss Heikki Poranen sums it up.

Wednesday's snow storm put all the organisers against the wall. Yet Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström managed to finish their note work.

Just like last year all possible accomodation was sold out already in the beginning of December. Last year there were over 10 000 spectators.

Räikkönen's first official rally as a rally driver is something that interests all motorsport-quarters.

Räikkönen and Lindström had a chance to test Citroen's C4 WRC-cannon for three days and they drove all and all about 400 km.

– Of course there aren't too many tests for Kimi at this point of his career. We got a positive feeling about them. We learned a lot about the car and saw how the setups work. We got it so that it fit Kimi's hand and that was the main thing, Lindström said.

Räikkönen started with Sebastien Loeb's basic setups for Norway's rally in 2008 and he took it from there to the direction he wanted.

– Tunturi-rally is only a test for Sweden. The reason why we wanted to go to Tunturi was that we could test how much more we can perform with this car compared to last year's Fiat in the same place, Lindström told.

F1- and rally-tests have a different way of thinking

– The tests were always good in rally but the race itself will educate you in a completely different way. The way we think in rally is completely different from the way they think in F1. In F1 you learn by testing and practising the track's every single corner in a certain way. In rally you have to look for a compromise in testing so that it will work properly in different places and conditions.

Driving with Sordo will offer Räikkönen a challenging comparison.

– Sordo's pace will show the speed you have in WRC. Dani is usually 3rd when two guys are going even faster. It's important for us to get driving experience. In rally we climb up these stairs slowly but when we put our helmets on we will always do our best.

That guy sure knows how to drive

Lindström knows best what kind of a steering wheel -man Räikkönen is in a rally car.

– That guy sure knows how to drive a car. When you have drove F1 with the powers Kimi has, these WRC-cars' 350 horsepowers aren't from a that different world. That won't be a problem. But when you can't remember every place in rally you have to make pace notes and drive according to them.

So first Kimi has to

a) learn
b) understand
c) drive according to the notes.

– Kimi will do it well but he still has to find that 100% trust before the job works completely, Lindström summed up.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA

(Translation courtesy of Nicole)

Some pictures from the shakedown:

http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/201...PG/_smaller.jpg
http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/201...PG/_smaller.jpg
http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/201...PG/_smaller.jpg
http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/201...PG/_smaller.jpg
http://www.arcticrally.fi/mGallery/2010/Jun/IMG_4493.jpg
http://www.arcticrally.fi/mGallery/2010/Jun/IMG_4495.jpg
http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/r...2010/873579.jpg
http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/r...2010/873611.jpg

KIMI TOLD HOW HIS CONTRACT WAS BORN - BUT KEPT QUIET ABOUT THE CONTEXT

28.01.2010 22:38

MTV3 asked Kimi why he hasn't got a contract with Citroen?

- Because I have a contract with Red Bull, Kimi replied.

- It wasn't really a difficult decision to go to WRC. We thought about it for a little time. I had other options but this was my own decision. It was the right time and the best option for me myself. I have always wanted to try rally and it's the last year with WRC-cars.

- I wouldn't go to drive if I wouldn't be interested in these jobs. I would have quit ages ago if I wouldn't want to drive. Nobody is forcing me to do it. And I don't have to drive if I don't want to. Always when I drive I do my best and go as fast as I can.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

Kimi is driving a different car to what he was testing?

Anyways looking forward...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nxdwJuXL94

Nope it is the same car.

Some part of the rally might be shown live here:

http://www.cricketsfilm.com/eng/

Jo, I am going to check t up. Thanx...

DRIVING RALLY REPLACES KIMI's WILL TO WIN

Turun Sanomat 28.1 2010 22:52:25

Kimi Räikkönen's debut with Red Bull-Citroen's WRC-car has attracted 170 media-people to Rovaniemi. As many as there were when Ferrari and McLaren presented their cars this week.

On Thursday night Räikkönen spent over an hour interviewed first by the tv- and after that by the press-people.

In F1 you said that you will always drive for victory? Is it possible this year in rally?

– No and that's for sure. There are pretty tough drivers out there and they have raced for many years the same rallies. They remember quite a lot from the stages and know what to do where. Like I said, you have to learn a lot before you get experience and can start improving your pace, Räikkönen knows.

So this new challenge with a WRC-car will replace his will to win this season.

What kind of expectations do you have from Sweden's rally?

– Everything is new to me so first of all I have to be patient. It's difficult to say what to expect when I haven't raced with this car. We'll see in Sweden how it goes. It's useless to say anything beforehand when there are so many things that can go wrong, Räikkönen said.

Sordo can't afford to lose

On Thursday Räikkönen got some comparison to Daniel Sordo's times when the duo drove the same stages with the same cars.

– Tunturi-rally is just a practice for Sweden. It's difficult to say how it goes here either. I have so much to learn in many things so the result doesn't mean anything to me in this race. You will see our pace in Sweden.

Sordo has drove in even colder conditions in Norways. Tunturi is his 6th snow rally. How badly will it hurt if the 3rd overall in WRC would lose to Räikkönen right from the beginning?

– Kimi is undoubtly fast but we try to go faster. If Kimi is faster it's not a good thing for me, Sordo thought.

There will be enough testing

Räikkönen had time to test for three days with Citroen before the races start. If there is need for it, can you test as much as you want?

– Of course there are some limitations. It depends on so many things, what kind of contracts who has and who pays what. I'm not even sure what the regulations say but I think you can test pretty freely in WRC. Other teams test, others don't, Räikkönen said.

Räikkönen denied many times the claims that he wouldn't have been motivated in F1-tests.

– Everyone can have their own view even if I wouldn't even know about the whole thing. The truth is that I have never had anything against any test where you try new parts and new things. It's a different thing if you just drive 600 km per day just to try and see if the car can take it without breaking.

Brothers as competitors

Big brother Rami Räikkönen will drive in Tunturi in Kimi's old car Fiat Abarth Grande Punto. Now the brothers compete on rally paths for the first time.

– It's still my car but when Rami wanted to try rally and has been doing it for a longer time as a hobby I thought why not?

Own pace notes to polish

So at what stage will the widely discussed Räikkönen's practice to make pace notes take place? How much do you trust the notes Kaj Lindström gives you?

– I trust in them because I have made them myself. There are many things. Of course I trust what Kaitsu says when I have made them myself and he has so much experience that if I would have made them totally senseless, he would have mentioned about it already when we made them. There won't be that kind of a mistake. It's more about the driver listening properly to the notes so that he doesn't make an error because of not listening.

– There is a lot to learn so that you can make good notes in a good place and precisely understand how fast you can drive there. Easily it goes so that if you can't describe it well enough it means that you can't drive as fast as you should.

A year in rally is not an obstacle for coming back to F1

Did you look at Ferrari's new F-10 -car from internet?

– I have seen the car. It's hard to say anything based upon pictures. I guess they will start testing it next week. You see it then. It looked a lot like it looked last year ago too. Nothing terribly different, Räikkönen summed up.

Do you still have a burn for a comeback to F1?

– I have no contract with anyone for year 2011. Of course a lot depends on what happens and where. I guess I have a long year ahead of me and you can never know what is going to happen.

Will this year be wasted if you decide to go back to F1?

– It's not wasted in any way. I always do my best. In the final games this was the best option of all options for this year. That's why I drive rally now.

Turun Sanomat, Rovaniemi

HEIKKI KULTA
(Translation courtesy of Nicole)

I can see Kimi getting pissed off, at being asked in every interview, If he's coming back to F1! Haha He's going to make his decision half way through the season, i truly believe the Red Bull seat is his for 2011, Its whether he wants it or not! But anyway good luck to him for this year, its going to be very interesting!

If he shows great promise in rally by summer, I hope he stayes and tries to win WRC.
If he isn't that stellar, he could come back to F1. Or do F1 boats or anything really!

I've found that if you put something like 2 instead of 10 at the end of this link it gets updated faster.

Kimi suprises: snow doesn't fit the Iceman!
29.01.2010 08:01

Kimi Räikkönen doesn't enjoy the wintry conditions at least not behind a rally car.

- I have driven the most in snow with a rally car but in my opinion snow is the most difficult surface. There you have to be pretty accurately on the clean driving lane because otherwise there will be a lot of action. On snow it is the most difficult to do notes and keep the car on the road, Räikkönen admits to MTV3.

In Arctic-rally, which is driven in Rovaniemi's snowy roads on Friday and Thursday, Räikkönen's WRC-car has wider tires than the N-group's drivers', which makes Räikkönen's job difficult since the WRC-tires won't fit the narrow lanes properly at the special stage that is driven for the second time.

The WRC-series start at the middle of February at Sweden's snow but Räikkönen is waiting to get to other surfaces already.

- I have driven one rally on sand and I've tested there somewhat. On tarmac and sand you can search for driving lanes a little bit. Tarmac is certainly natural for me. There you can read [the road] with your eyes more.

In WRC the tarmac-rallies are placed on the second half of the season.

- Fortunately there is a couple of races driven before the tarmac-rallies come. If we would have learnt something before that, Kimi says.

MTV3 – Jani Merimaa ja Anette Latva-Piikkilä, Rovaniemi

(Translation courtesy of Leijona)

Pictures from Arctic Rally Lapland: http://reissumies.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ralli/2010/Arcticrally2010/

The rally is starting 12:23 Finnish time (10:23 UK).

Only 30 mins to go! they just said on the rally radio that drivers are slowly coming to the market place but Kimi and Sordo are nowhere to be seen, and they will probably come at the last minute since people will be all over their cars..
(Thank to Leijona from the rally radio)

“It's very difficult to say straight away how he will get on,” Loeb told Autosport. “What we can look at is what he did on Rally Finland last year, when he was close to the pace in the Group N class. This was very good. It's easy to see he can drive the car, there's no doubting he's a very good driver. He's a Finn, he has been brought up on slippery surfaces and I'm sure he was playing around on them for a long time, it's natural that he will be good like the other Finnish drivers."

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/247159/

These might be the first times:

JONKA JÄLKEEN YLEISKILPAILUTILANNE aika ero 1.een ero edell.
1.( 1)Dani Sordo A18 6:13,5
2.( 3)Kimi Räikkönen A18 6:19,0 0:05,5 0:05,5
3.(101)Ott Tänar A18 6:23,4 0:09,9 0:04,4

Kimi 'just' 5s off the pace.

Yes 5 secs

Thats not to shoddy

The name is Ott tänaK, not tänar

Lst years winner logs in at (Juha Salo) 6:30,4 in the group N... How much faster are the WRCs supposed to be over a km?

In six minutes driving... that counts for 15 seconds to a relatively slow 'winter' driver in the WRC, tanslating into say 23-24 seconds to Loeb and Hirvonen over one winter stagem, relatively speaking. Kimi has a fair way to go...

Yeah thats real times, listening Finnish radio...

jeze: LOL, this is his first rally with WRC car and only practice for the season. Did you expect Kimi beating Sordo?

I copied the whole lot, must be the timing site's mistake

Live timing link ?

Timing has it wrong

http://www.tenab.net/online/webeky1.htm

http://www.tenab.net/online.htm

http://tulossivu.autourheilu.fi/5AR10/18/1/

They have fixed the name on live timing now.

it's 0,5s per kilometres. I think people need to create a correct scale of comparison. For example, last year's Rally Norway (on snow) Conrad Rautenbach - who is no slouch - lost to Sordo 1,185 s / km after day one in the Citroen WRC. That's a more realistic comparison for Kimi's first rally in a WRC.

Something that might interest some live GPS tracking of the 0 cars:

http://jatko.vpalvelin.com/~pekvari/tunturiralli2010/
http://jatko.vpalvelin.com/~pekvari/java/index.php?javaid=92

but was that a bigger stage ... more corners ?

Thats cool, I hit the replay from start button.

Btw Rami Räikkönen in P21 after first stage, pretty good

As said, after D1. First stage doesn't say anything - much.

edit: yeah, Sordo late for S2. +1min

Komi out 5kms after start cannot continue by himself - located in an area without spectators, tight corner, breaked too late.

Is Kimi out? No mention in live timing after SS2? At least five drivers are listed now...And Sordo has some sort of penalty, it appears.

Kimi made a mistake apparently. Waiting for some finns to translate properly..

What happens if he doesn't complete a stage? Is that it for the rally?

Kimi out, 5km from the starting line. Not sure if he can continue, most likely not, they need help to get the car back to the road and there isn't help near.

He's out of the road, and probably can't get the car out from snow with Kaj. He went out about 5km from the start, and apparently there's no-one to help with the car.

Kimi may rejoin the rally tomorrow.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81120

Well, I kind of expected this to happen. He is trying to find the limits
and then to stretch them. Initial speed looked promising so he just
might do good eventually in rally. Will be fun to watch.

Shame he crashed.

Someone said that all rally drivers crash, and that is true. New drivers naturally more. Part of rallying.

Not bad Tänak. Hes first WRC car rally and 2003 model.