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Kimi
Raikkonen says he has no particular target in mind for his first
competitive outing at the wheel of the Citroen C4 WRC on this
weekend's Arctic Rally.
The
2007 Formula 1 world champion is using the first round of the
Finnish championship as a warm-up for his inaugural World Rally
Championship campaign with the Citroen Junior Team, which gets
underway in Sweden in a fortnight's time. Joining him on the event
is Citroen's factory driver Dani Sordo, who will provide a useful
benchmark a near-identical car.
"I
don't have any special target," said Raikkonen at the
pre-rally press conference in Rovaniemi. "This is just for
learning. We will just drive and see how we are. There are many
things to find out." According to his co-driver Kaj
Lindstrom, Raikkonen's biggest challenge will be learning to use
pace notes: "You need the confidence to trust and commit to
the notes," he said. "This is where we will improve most.
But I have no doubt that Kimi has the speed."
Raikkonen
completed yesterday's shakedown stage without any problems, taking
just two runs through what will be his final preparation before
his inaugural rally in the Citroen.
Raikkonen
and Sordo will face little opposition on the event, as the
overwhelming majority of entrants are driving Group N machinery.
The opening stage of the rally gets underway at 12:23 (local time)
today. The first car is due to enter parc ferme after leg one at
21:12 tonight.
The
conditions for the event are perfect, with temperatures hovering
around -20C and snow still falling.
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