autoevolution
 

Raikkonen Confirms Entry in Rally Lanterna

Kimi Raikkonen has spent quite some time outside WRC action in recent weeks, as his programme in the championship this season did not include the Rally New Zealand outing a few weekends ago. Consequently, the Finn prepared himself for his new round, scheduled to take place in Portugal starting next Thursday.

However, the former F1 champion also figured out a training schedule for the first all-asphalt rally of the season, Rally Bulgaria, scheduled for July 8-11. After the first 5 rounds of the 2010 season, the WRC field is yet to tackle an all-asphalt rally, with the upcoming Rally Portugal also to be ran on gravel roads.

Raikkonen therefore joined the entry list of Rally Lanterna in Italy next month, an event that is scheduled to take place from June 11 to 12 on asphalt (one superspecial stage on Friday and 8 special stages on Saturday). The Finn is not the only driver in the WRC field to take his Citroen C4 WRC to the event, but also his teammate from Citroen Junior Team Sebastien Ogier.

The Frenchman was very close to scoring his first WRC win at the wheel of the Citroen C4 WRC in Rally New Zealand, but a couple of spins in the last stage of the event dropped him to the runner-up spot, behind Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala. While Raikkonen will tackle the Italian rally as a preparation for the Bulgarian rally, Ogier's target is to win it.

Until now, Raikkonen's best stage times happened on sealed surface stages, which is only natural considering his racing pedigree as a grand prix driver. Nevertheless, his best result in 2010 happened in Turkey (5th place), where the roads, although larger than usual, are known to have a rough gravel.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories