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Raikkonen Signs 10-Round Deal in the WRC

As revealed by Kimi Raikkonen's manager a few days ago, the Finnish driver will continue to drive in the World Rally Championship for the second year running, in 2011, at the wheel of a works Citroen WRC racer. Kimi will switch from last year's C4 WRC to the new DS3 WRC and will contest in 10 out of 13 rounds this season, after extending his collaboration with Citroen Junior Team.

Kimi Raikkonen has signed for 10 rallies and if all goes well, maybe more,” said team principal Olivier Quesnel during the Citroen World Rally Team 2011 launch in Paris.

Raikkonen's participation in other of the remaining rounds of 2011 will be pending management decisions. Initially, some media sources hinted that Raikkonen will miss those particular events that are not likely to have an extended presence in the championship for the years to come. Which means the Finn will try to get used to the regular rallies of the series for a better shot in the championship in the future.

Another important announcement made by Quesnel today was that Petter Solberg will continue to partner Citroen for yet another season in the WRC. The Norwegian will drive a DS3 WRC for the entire 13 rounds on schedule, something that was made possible thanks to Peter Van Merkstyn's good will.

The Dutch was supposed to tackle the Swedish Rally in a DS3 WRC next month, but he agreed to give Solberg the opportunity to have the car delivered first.

We have to thank Peter [van Merkstyn] for allowing Petter to race in Sweden as Peter has given him his car for the first round,” added Quesnel, according to the WRC official website.
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