Kimi Raikkonen

Posted on 28/11/2010, 14:29 by: Ice Lady87

Raikkonen not closing door on F1

"I hope we will know what direction we are going by the end of November"

Friday 26 November 2010 - 08h04, by GMM
Kimi Raikkonen’s plans for 2011 are still not secure, but the Finn appears unlikely to be returning to formula one any time soon.

The 2007 world champion looks set to either stay with Red Bull-sponsored Citroen next year or switch to another world rally championship team, despite earlier speculation suggesting he might go back to F1.

"Of course you always want to decide your next plans sooner rather than later, but sometimes it’s just not possible," Raikkonen’s manager Steve Robertson told Turun Sanomat newspaper.

"I hope we will know what direction we are going by the end of November," he added.

Robertson said the 31-year-old driver is likely to stay in rallying for now.

"We have not talked with anyone in F1," he insisted. "Kimi hasn’t closed the door on it; you never say never in case the right offer comes along."

He said Raikkonen, who cleared the way at Ferrari last year for the arrival of sponsor Santander and Fernando Alonso, would have done well this year at the wheel of the F10.

"I think he would have done pretty much the same as Fernando did," said Robertson. "Fernando drove a great season and I don’t want to take anything away from him.

"I don’t want to be misunderstood, but I think Kimi would have done a good job in that car," he insisted.
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Tags:: kimifuture,; SteveRobertson

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (28/11/2010, 14:29)

Raikkonen and Meeke could be team players

Posted on 26/11/2010, 14:45 by: Ice Lady87

Raikkonen and Meeke could be team players

By Sammy Hamill
Thursday, 25 November 2010

Former Formula One World champion Kimi Raikkonen is being linked to a role alongside Ulsterman Kris Meeke in the new BMW Mini rally team.

The Finn, champion in 2007, was the highest paid driver in F1 before being displaced at Ferrari by Fernando Alonso at the end of the 2009 season.

Rather than move to another team, he switched to rallying and has been part of the Citroen junior team this season, mixing accidents with fast stage times.

Despite stories suggesting a return to F1 next season, Raikkonen has insisted he wants to continue in rallying and now is poised to test the new Prodrive-developed Mini Countryman which will make its World championship bow in the Spring of next year.

Meeke, the 2009 Intercontinental Challenge champion, is the first driver signed by the team but is expected to be joined shortly by Dani Sordo, World champion Sebastien Loeb’s No.2 at Citroen. But Mini, it seems, are interested in Raikkonen as well. Prodrive managing director Richard Taylor said: “Kimi has brought a lot of profile into the WRC so of course he would be of interest to any manufacturer.”

Apart from Raikkonen’s profile there are other reasons for Mini’s interest.

He would come with personal sponsorship from Red Bull — as does Meeke — and the four-wheel-drive Mini Countryman road cars are built in Austria, home of the energy drink company’s founder, Dietrich Mateschitz.

The Mini is also the company’s promotional vehicle of choice. Red Bull are committed to one further year of sponsorship with Citroen but a switch to Mini would coincide with the team’s full assault on the World championship in 2012.

Meeke, meanwhile, has said he would be happy to see Spaniard Sordo join the team.

Currently continuing the Mini development programme in Sardinia, he said: “Apart from the fact we have been friends since out Junior World championship days and have worked together regularly on Citroen’s test days, Dani has good knowledge of the new Citroen DS3 and would bring that expertise with him.

“There are not many guys around with his experience of the new breed of cars which will appear in the World championship next season. He would be a good addition to the team.”

Former World champion Marcus Gronholm had been expected to join the team. But the Finn has changed his mind, saying he “doesn’t want to do a Michael Schumacher.”

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport ... 13050.html

Tags:: Meeke,; Mini

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (26/11/2010, 14:45)

Raikkonen was in the States - interested in Nascar

Posted on 23/11/2010, 20:48 by: Ice Lady87

Raikkonen was in the States - interested in Nascar
23.11.2010 10:42

Kimi Raikkonen followed last weekend a race in Nascar in the United States.

Nascar-season ended on Sunday on Homestad's oval-track in Florida. The last race of the season was also followed by Räikkönen who was there.

They have been rumouring in rally-circles for some time that Raikkonen could race some Nascar-races in addition to rally next season.

IS Sports reached Riku Kuvaja on Tuesday morning and he said that the trip to America had nothing to do with Räikkönen's plans for next year.

- It was just a holiday trip. We only watched the race since we happened to be there, Kuvaja said.

In Florida Raikkonen was seen in the company of Nascar-series star designer Eric Warren among others.

Tags:: kimifuture,; Nascar

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (23/11/2010, 20:48)

WRC: Quesnel wants Räikkönen and Solberg for Citroën Junior Team in 2011

Posted on 20/11/2010, 18:09 by: Ice Lady87

WRC: Quesnel wants Räikkönen and Solberg for Citroën Junior Team in 2011

Kimi Räikkönen and Petter Solberg are Citroën team principal Olivier Quesnel's preferred driver pairing for the marque's Junior Team effort in 2011.

Neither man has yet signed for next season but both would likely jump at the chance to compete for the WRC's top manufacturer if the funding could be found to make a deal happen.

Räikkönen has driven for the Junior Team this season with patchy results but recently affirmed his desire to remain in situe next year. The team has a free seat for 2011 with Sébastien Ogier stepping up to the main team and his predecessor Dani Sordo leaving the Citroen fold, providing Solberg with an opening. The Norwegian has been a star in his privateer squad over the last two years but recently admitted that he can’t continue in a dual owner-driver capacity.

"After what they did here this year, for me Petter and Kimi are the priority," said Quesnel of next year's driver line-up. "Maybe we'll have to change the name from 'Junior Team'. We have Ogier in the main team now so we are not looking for young drivers for the next two years."

Quesnel was particularly keen to praise Solberg and, despite admitting that securing his place at the team won't be easy, believes a deal can be done to put the 2003 world champion the new DS3 WRC next year.

"For Petter, it's not just 'okay, you were fast so you can come'. It's more complicated than that, but I'm sure in the end it will be okay," Quesnel said in reference to Solberg’s lack of sponsorship.

"I have a lot of respect for what he did this year. I know how complicated it is to find the budget and to build the team, and then he has to drive the car as well.

“Honestly, what he did is really complicated and I take my hat off to him."

Solberg himself has admitted that he needs to return to a manufacturer team, and says he is in talks with unnamed teams about next year.

"At the moment I have nothing," said Solberg. "I have one sponsor who will come with me. I'm very tired of trying to do everything and it's certain that you can't be world champion in a private team. We're talking so let's see what happens."

Solberg campaigned a customer Citroën C4 this year, recording eight podiums on his way to third in the drivers’
Source: www.motorstv.com/car/rally/wrc/1811...or-team-in-2011

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Tags:: kimifuture,; Quesnel

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (20/11/2010, 18:09)

Kimi's end of year report

Posted on 20/11/2010, 18:04 by: Ice Lady87

Kimi's end of year report.by Anthony Peacock
on Nov 20, 2010

At the end of his first season of World Championship rallying with Red Bull, we caught up with Kimi Räikkönen to find out his best memories. There are lots of things that will stick in his mind forever from this year – including sand, public transport, shopping centres and the Pope. Eclectic enough for you? Then read on…

Kimi, how has this year been for you?
On balance, it’s been pretty much as I expected. There have been good bits and bad bits, and on the whole it’s been really tough with a lot of learning. In some ways it reminds me of the very first years when I was starting out in racing: it was a little bit the same feeling.

'I thought it would be interesting to see if I missed F1 at all and in fact I didn’t'

What was your favourite rally of the year?
That’s a tough one, a really tough one as all the rallies were so different. But actually I liked Bulgaria as straight away we were in the top four there and it was nice to fight closer to the front, which is not something that we were really expecting to do. Britain was a good rally too: not so much for the result but for the stages.

Was the Rally of Spain, where you crashed in the shakedown, the biggest disappointment of the year?
Yes I suppose so, but actually it’s not something that I’ve really thought about much since it happened because there’s no point. It’s over, it’s history and there’s no point in imagining what might have been. That’s how I’ve always dealt with things and I’m not going to change now.

Did you ever think about going back to Formula One next year?
Of course I thought about it, because you think about everything. But I never really thought seriously about it, because actually I didn’t miss Formula One at all this season. Before the start of this year I thought it would be interesting to see if I missed it at all and in fact I didn’t.

Citroën Sport Photos

So does that mean that you are staying in rallying next year?
It means that I’d like to. But for the moment we haven’t got a deal sorted.

What are the moments you are going to remember most, apart from just driving the car?
There were lots of things that happened that I think everyone in our team will remember. In Jordan we scored our first points and ended up covered in sand. In Turkey, there was the problem with the ash cloud and all our team had to go home to France by coach for three days. We drove a go-kart in a shopping mall in Japan; then in Portugal we did this road show in Faro, where we had almost the same number of people that had come to see the Pope the week before. So there are...

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Tags:: 2010,; WRC

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (20/11/2010, 18:04)

Kimi Räikkönen is going to start his own team in motocross WC-serie

Posted on 20/11/2010, 17:59 by: Ice Lady87

Kimi Räikkönen is going to start his own team in motocross WC-serie

19.11.2010 klo 12.59

Kimi Räikkönen is going to start his own team in motocross WC-serie, Vauhdin Maailma tells. Räikkönen gets help from 7-time world champion Kari Tiainen among others.

- I have been helping in this matter so much that I asked the International Motorsporting Federation if there would be room for a new team like this in the WC-serie at once. The reply was quick and straightforward: no problems, it can be arranged. It would be a project that would be very seriously taken. Why wouldn't it happen? There are tough professionals involved in this starting from Kari Tiainen, Kurt Ljungqvist from Motorsport Federation confirms in Vauhdin Maailma.

Kimi's intention is to have two Finnish drivers; one in MX1- and the other in MX2-serie. The budget for two bikes in one year would be about half a million euros in the first season.

According to Riku Kuvaja starting a new cross-team is everything but certain.

- It's all still in the beginning. They have asked us if we are interested and there has been some talk about it but nothing concrete has yet happened, Kuvaja told Iltalehti on the phone.

KARI MELART
VILLE-VEIKKO VALTA

Translation: Nicole

Tags:: motocross

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (20/11/2010, 17:59)

Kimi Raikkonen will be in the 100 meters edition of the Monte Carlo Rally 2011 IRC

Posted on 17/11/2010, 20:58 by: Ice Lady87

Kimi Raikkonen will be in the 100 meters edition of the Monte Carlo Rally 2011 IRC

Parentheses after the holidays that will have former F1 champion 2007 with Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen for almost agreed with continuity in the structure of the Junior Team of Citroën in the effective management of Benoit Nogier the obligation and responsibility to develop DS3 jointly with the square WRC Olivier Quesnel official from the French factory Satory / Versailles.

Plans to ensure continuity with this double chevron brand, Raikkonen will be prepared to face in the coming days some short essays in asphalt and Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Ogier DS3 aboard the 011 WRC.

But that’s not all the PSA group (Citroen / Peugeot) have decided by consensus to Kimi to intervene in the incipient and spectacular opening day of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in the Principality of Monaco, more precisely in Monte Carlo where he would be speaking the “ICE MAN “Finn with a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 Evo 3 of the Belgian team Kronos Marc Van Dalen and Jean Pierre Mondron, remains a fact that participation with navigation Kaj Lindström.

It is also believed that this initiative will have Raikkonen teammates on the lion hosts the Gaul and Briton Brian Bouffier Guy Wilks. Also taking a particular position Stephane Sarrazin, Bruno Magalhaes and Thierry Neuville.

Peugeot wants to dethrone Skoda, which has confirmed that Valence will be three official cars Fabia hand Evo 2 Champion Hanninen, Kopecky and Loix.

Nor should we forget the intentions of PH Sport have Didier Auriol and Francois Delecour the appointment in Monaco 207 Super 2000 each with a semi-official way in this exciting edition of the prestigious Monte that will cause a revolution in the discipline with a large number of registrations free of great importance.

Kimi debut with Peugeot in the IRC will be a clue to the possible return of Mikko Hirvonen to Montecarlo trying to repeat the triumph in the most traditional date of the International Rally.
Source: http://rampazampa.eu/?lang=en

Tags:: MonteCarloRally

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (17/11/2010, 20:58)

Kimi finishes Rally GB in the points

Posted on 14/11/2010, 23:16 by: Ice Lady87

KIMI FINISHES RALLY GREAT BRITAIN IN THE POINTS

So this is where the remarkable WRC journey ends for Kimi Raikkonen in 2010, after 11 rallies contested and five points finishes, making a total of 25 points and 10th in the drivers' championship at the end of his debut season.
In just one year, the 2007 Formula One World Champion has become the fifth most prolific points-scorer in the illustrious history of the Citroen C4 WRC: a car that has claimed more than 600 fastest stage times throughout its four seasons of competition, one of which was set by Kimi on the Rallye Deutschland in August.

Kimi has made a bit of rally history, becoming the only Formula 1 World Champion to score World Rally Championship points or set a fastest stage time. This year, the Finn also took his very first rally win, at a national event in France, and visited new countries that ranged from Mexico to Bulgaria. It's been an incredible story that has captured the imagination of the entire motorsport world.

Kimi is known as the Iceman because nothing bothers him: especially not a brand new challenge that would send most people running for cover. He is well known for being fearless in the car but he is just as determined out of it, having taken on the biggest bet of his career thanks to Red Bull. Nobody has ever tried to switch full-time from Formula One to rally before, but there and again not everybody is like the Iceman....
The learning curve has been so steep that it is practically vertical, and Rally Great Britain was one of the most complicated events of the year thanks to rain, wind, mud, fog and even a small cyclone called Carmen: a bad weather front that has swept across northern Europe.

Nonetheless, Kimi did not make a single serious mistake on any of the 20 gravel stages and 359 competitive kilometres, to eventually finish in a points-scoring eighth.

"It's been a really good rally and it's nice to end my first season in the World Rally Championship with a points finish," he said. "This has definitely been the most challenging year of my career and Britain was one of the most difficult rallies that I competed on, mostly because of the grip changing all the time. The roads were really slippery, but it's always been a question of trying to work out exactly how slippery they are. Like everything else, this has been a completely new experience for me. Looking back on it, this season has been more or less as I expected it to be: we've made a few mistakes but we've also learned a lot. The stages in Wales are really nice, but as always you need experience to be really quick on them. Generally speaking I'm happy with the...

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Tags:: GB rally

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (14/11/2010, 23:16)

"I’m not going back to Formula One next year", Drivers Blog:Kimi Raikkonen

Posted on 11/11/2010, 22:51 by: Ice Lady87

For the last Pirelli driver blog of the season we've entrusted the wrc.com laptop to 2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen has never tackled the British round of the championship before, so it represents another leap into the unknown for the Finn, who drives a Citroen C4 World Rally Car for the French manufacturer’s Junior team.

As always though, he is able to rely on co-driver Kaj Lindstrom to guide him through all the potential pitfalls. Kaj has plenty of experience of Great Britain, having even taken part in - and won - the British Rally Championship.

Kimi sent this first update just before the rally opening Superspecial.

Blog one: Thursday 11 November, 1800hrs.

“I’ve been in motorsport for a few years now, so you would have thought that I should be used to it by now. But every season I’m always surprised by just how quickly the year has gone - especially this year.

It feels like my first rally of the season, in Finland on the Arctic Rally in January, was like yesterday. Or is that just because it’s so cold here in Wales? Actually, I’m used to the British weather now because I lived for a few years in England. My house was in Essex, where they filmed ‘Footballers’ Wives’. That’s all it’s really famous for I think...

I’ve heard a lot about Rally GB and it’s always been good for Finnish drivers for some reason. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s good for this particular Finnish driver but one thing is for sure: it looks extremely tricky.

There’s going to be a lot of mud, which is something that you don’t see in Formula One very often - unless you happen to be in a gravel trap. We start quite a long way down the order tomorrow and that’s not going to help us because the roads will be in bad condition by the time we get there.

In the end though it doesn’t matter because we’re not here to set really quick times: we just want to learn and above all get to the finish of the rally. We’ve made a lot of progress this year and if we can end the season by scoring some points, this would be really good. Hopefully I’ll get a bit of help from my co-driver Kaj: he’s a former British Rally Champion, so he should know his way round. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping.

A lot of people have been asking me what I’m doing next year and the truth is that I really don’t know. My management is working on a few options, but rallying is definitely what we are looking at; I’m not going back to Formula One next year.

Obviously it makes things a bit easier if we can end the season with a strong result, so that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on this weekend. Rallying is all about experience, so with everything we’ve learned so far,...

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Tags:: kimifuture

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (11/11/2010, 22:51)

Kimi Räikkönen Launches Racing Games togheter With 24MAS

Posted on 10/11/2010, 21:11 by: Ice Lady87

Kimi Räikkönen Launches Racing Games togheter With 24MAS

24MAS and Kimi Räikkönen has initiated cooperation with 24MAS will develop and deploy games together with Formula 1 driver. Cooperation will result in a mobile game, a downloadable PC games and a Facebookapplikation. Kimi is also a major investor in the company.

Kimi Räikkönen is Finnish world champion in Formula 1 and became as a driver for Ferrari's third Nordic driver to ever win an F1 World Drivers ' Championship in 2007. Together with 24MAS, three interactive racing game to be launched where fans can take on the role of Evidence behind the wheel.

-I see 24MAS as one of the leading companies in the mobile marketing sector and is pleased to be associated with the company. I know the lead on 24MAS and am very impressed by what they have been developed so far. I look forward to see my game is distributed throughout the world and I have always been interested in new technologies, so it will be exciting to offer my fans a chance to play racing games, says Kimi Räikkönen.

The development of games begin in November 2010 and the launch is planned for March 2011. The games will be distributed globally by 24MAS media partners and through mobile operators.

-We have strong partnerships with mobile operators and media companies worldwide and this gives us a very lucrative position in order to distribute the game for a big market. Our launch plan is comprehensive, with major media partners who will stand for promotion. There will be a whole new way to launch the game. There will be a very interesting project, "said Tero Turunen, CEO, 24 Mobile Advertising Solutions.

2010-11-09
Source www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx...ed-24mas-514919

Tags:: GBRally

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Last Post by: Ice Lady87 (10/11/2010, 21:11)

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