Rautenbach Welcomes Raikkonen in the WRC

Although every piece of information regarding Kimi Raikkonen – that suggested the Finn is to sign a deal with Citroen in the World Rally Championship – has been denied by the Citroen officials, more and more people seem to already welcome the former Ferrari-an in the WRC lineup. After Mikko Hirvonen, Petter Solberg and Olivier Quesnel, now Conrad Rautenbach admitted he would be honored to share the lineup at Citroen Junior Team with Raikkonen.

The Zimbabwean driver has last year competed for Citroen Junior Team in selected events and scored a total of 9 points, finishing the season in 10th place. He is yet to secure a drive for the upcoming season with the French squad, but is mostly confident that Raikkonen would have no problem adapting to the staff at Citroen's satellite team.

The French constructor's junior team has been designed to allow young rallying talents to make their first steps into the WRC, but Raikkonen would debut for them as part of a sponsorship scheme with Red Bull energy drink (the Austrian company is also sponsoring the Finn).

“He (Raikkonen) seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy and I'm sure he won't have any problems with the team at all, he'll slot in there very easily. Look at who he is: he's a Formula 1 world champion, people will make things happen for him in the team. The Citroen Junior Team is a good place to drive, it was all pretty comfortable this year for me,” said the 25-year old driver, according to Autosport.

However, as compared to Raikkonen, Rautenbach made more than 40 starts in the WRC prior to his commitment with Citroen Junior Rally Team, whereas the Finnish driver only competed in the series once, last year. He drove a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 during Rally Finland, which he ended after a crash in Day 2.

Both Citroen and Kimi Raikkonen's managers are yet to announce a deal for the 2010 WRC season. If signed, the contract is believed to include all 13 rounds of the WRC.