Raikkonen Seeks 2nd Test after Boosting Rally Turkey

Kimi Raikkonen was one of the few drivers in the WRC field not to suffer a puncture on the rocky stages of Rally Turkey two weekends ago, and that eventually paid off with an impressive 5th place finish in only his 5th professional outing in the series. The Finn had a trouble-free event in Turkey and benefitted from the mistakes made by the drivers in front of him (in the rally classification) to record his second point-scoring weekend in the WRC.

Needless to say, his 10-point gain in Turkey boosted his confidence for the rallies to come, especially since it came on a surface that Raikkonen is still trying to master.

“It's a sign that we're going in the right direction. In Jordan the speed was not so good but we finished the rally; in Turkey it was bit better and we finished fifth,” said the former F1 champion, who has scored each time he finished a rally this season (besides the ones finished on SuperRally rules).

“In fact, we did not do anything that was very different: it was just a question of having more time in the car and working with the pace notes. In some places I felt confident, in others less confident. But for sure, a result like this helps,” added the Citroen Junior driver.

And, since he won't be joining his Citroen Junior Team in the upcoming Rally New Zealand – the only round in the 2010 schedule that is not part of his programme with Citroen – Raikkonen will use the time to make better acquaintance with the gravel surface. Consequently, he is pushing for a second test with his C4 in the upcoming few weeks (the first one he did after Rally Mexico) in order to tackle Rally Portugal with a better knowledge of his rally car.

For the time being, Raikkonen sits in 10th place in the overall classification, having a total of 14 points.