Kimi Raikkonen Returns To WRC Greece

Kimi Raikkonen will be back to World Rally Championship Greece next week guys, almost two months after he made his last appearance in the series in Jordan, where he finished sixth in his Ice 1 Racing Citroen DS3 WRC. 

Since then the ex-Formula One world champion has made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, finishing 15th at Charlotte, a result he followed up by claiming 27th on his first appearance in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the same venue one week later.

Raikkonen has yet to compete on the Loutraki-based Acropolis Rally and will be braced for a tough test on the punishing gravel stages. He spent today (Wednesday) reacclimatising to the rigours of driving his turbocharged Citroen on gravel roads during a test near Marseille in the south of France where he covered approximately 150 kilometres.

Benoit Nogier, who manages the Citroen Racing Technologies operation, the company responsible for running Raikkonen’s DS3 WRC, spoke to Wrc.com following the test. He said: “We were very happy with his performance in Jordan and he has a good opportunity for Greece. We found a road with a condition as close as possible to Greece and Kimi was quite happy. It will be a tough rally, not necessarily for the drivers but for the cars. The first day is very long with only a remote service but Kimi is not a rookie anymore and will be able to manage this situation.”

Raikkonen, who is co-driven by fellow Finn Kaj Lindstrom, will be anxious to kick start his promising 2011 WRC campaign in Greece after skipping the last two rounds in Italy and Argentina. He had described his performance on the Jordan Rally in mid-April as his best in the series so far and would have equalled his career-best fifth place but for a late puncture.

“The driving has been better and we’re pushing harder now,” Raikkonen was quoted as saying recently. “My only target really is to improve in the WRC.”

The Acropolis Rally will mark the fourth of Raikkonen’s planned 10 appearances in the WRC. He’s currently ninth in the drivers’ standings on 18 points. Ice 1 Racing is sixth in the manufacturers’ standings with 26 points.

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WRC Rally Argentina Live May 2011

 Watch Argentina Rally Live Streaming

Become undefeated in the world championship in Argentina since 2004 and victorious on the last four rounds this season, Citroen World Rally Team heads to South America on a high. It will rely on data accumulated during tests in Portugal and Italy earlier this season to determine a workable set-up for Argentina. The squad also spent part of last week running a DS3 WRC on asphalt using the regulation soft compound Michelin gravel tyre to give its drivers an understanding of how the car will perform on the chunks of Tarmac sections included on this year’s route. Jetlag won’t be a problem for the Citroen team: last Saturday Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier took part in a road show event on the city’s Place de la Republique, which was watched by an estimated 50,000 fans.

Complete event timetable for Rally Argentina - the sixth round out of 13 in the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship.


Thursday 26 May: Day 1 Carlos Paz - Carlos Paz

Shakedown Villa Carlos Paz / Cabalango 6.23 km (11.08km from service) 08.00 - 12.00
Start Carlos Paz 14.40
SS1 Super Especial Carlos Paz I 3.02km 15.05
Finish Carlos Paz 15.25


Friday 27 May: Day 1 (continued) Carlos Paz - Carlos Paz

Serv A Carlos Paz (15 mins) 06.55
SS2 El Mirador / San Lorenzo I 18.23km 09.36
SS3 Mina Clavero / Giulio Cesare I 22.67km 10.08
SS4 El Condor / Cuesta Blanca I 37.32km 11.01
Serv B Carlos Paz (30 mins) 12.21
SS5 El Mirador / San Lorenzo II 18.23km 15.17
SS6 Mina Clavero / Giulio Cesare II 22.67km 15.49
SS7 El Condor / Cuesta Blanca II 37.32km 16.42
Serv C Carlos Paz (45 mins) 17.55
Finish Carlos Paz 18.40

Total 159.46km competitive


Saturday 28 May: Day 2 Carlos Paz - Carlos Paz

Serv D Carlos Paz (15 mins) 07.28
SS8 Las Jarillas / Falda del Carmen I 21.57km 08.13
SS9 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique I 16.57km 09.46
SS10 Amboy / Santa Monica I 20.33km 10.32
SS11 Santa Rosa / San Agustin I 21.36km 11.13
Serv E Carlos Paz (30 mins) 13.08
SS12 Las Jarillas / Falda del Carmen II 21.57km 14.08
SS13 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique II 16.57km 15.41
SS14 Amboy / Santa Monica II 20.33km 16.27
SS15 Santa Rosa / San Agustin II 21.36km 17.08
Serv F Carlos Paz (45 mins) 19.06
Finish Carlos Paz 19.51

Total 159.66km competitive


Sunday 29 May: Day 3 Carlos Paz - Carlos Paz

Serv G Carlos Paz (15 mins) 06.06
SS16 Ascochinga / Agua de Oro 48.21km 08.09
SS17 Cabalango / Villa Garcia 3.90km 10.27
SS18 Super Especial Carlos Paz II 3.02km 11.38
SS19 Cabalango / Villa Garcia 3.90km 12.10
Serv H Carlos Paz (10 mins) 12.50
Finish Carlos Paz 13.00

Total 59.03km competitive

Rally total 1457.08km (378.15km competitive)


all times are local (GMT -3)

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Saturday WRC wrap: Loeb heading for Sardinia victory

Sebastien Loeb has increased his grip on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna winners' trophy by completing day two of the demanding world championship qualifier with a lead of almost 30 seconds.

Co-driven by Daniel Elena, Loeb began Saturday’s first stage with an advantage of 33.2s in his Citroen DS3 WRC. Despite having to clean the road of the loose surface gravel for those running behind, Loeb was able to minimise any potential time loss throughout the day.
After completing the day’s final stage, the 14.21-kilometre Su Filigosu test, he suggested his overnight lead of 28.3s might be enough to ensure win number two of the all-action 2011 season.
“It was a great day, a very hard day also, but a great day,” said the 37-year-old Loeb. “It’s really difficult to accept losing time when you are cleaning the road in difficult conditions but we had to keep concentrated and continue to believe it would be okay. Twenty-eight seconds should be enough but it’s still a difficult day tomorrow.”
But while Loeb, world title winner for the last seven years, is eyeing his fourth victory on the Mediterranean island, a thrilling battle is raging for second place with Mikko Hirvonen, Sebastien Ogier and Petter Solberg covered a little more than 10 seconds heading into Sunday’s final quartet of stages.
Hirvonen is second in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 6.3s up on Citroen driver Ogier with Solberg a further 4.9s behind in his DS3.
“Sebastien [Loeb] was very fast in the last two stages and I wasn’t really able to take much time out of him,” said Hirvonen. “Petter and Ogier are very close and we will all have to go flat-out tomorrow and that will keep the pressure on Sebastien. You never know what will happen.”
Solberg, meanwhile, suggested his time loss with a puncture on Saturday’s second stage has ended his hopes of victory but he remains firmly on course for his first podium of 2011. “Generally I’m very happy and feeling very good pushing like this,” said the Norwegian.
Mads Ostberg is fifth overnight having overcome a few handling issues in the morning and a minor scare on Saturday’s final test when a steering arm worked loose on his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.
Dani Sordo has completed day two in an impressive sixth overall in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The Spaniard reported a throttle problem during the afternoon but was more fortunate than team-mate Kris Meeke who stopped on the day’s second test when his car developed a water leak.
Ott Tanak is the leading Super 2000 World Rally Championship competitor in seventh overall. Class rival Juho Hanninen is eighth with Matthew Wilson ninth for the M-Sport Stobart team, after reporting no recurrence of the brake problems that slowed him on Friday.
Nasser Al-Attiyah completes the top 10 in his S2000 Fiesta with Dennis Kuipers 11th in his FERM Power Tools World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC. Khalid Al Qassimi is 12th in his Team Abu Dhabi example with Armindo Araujo 13th in a Motorsport Italia MINI. The Portuguese admitted to struggling to find a workable set-up on his car and also lost ground when a water bottle worked loose during stage 12.
One of the stars of day two, however, was factory Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn restarted under SupeRally regulations this morning following his retirement on day one. He gave an indication of what might have been when he went fastest on five of the day’s six special stages.

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