|
Kimi
Raikkonen took a brilliant fifth place finish on the Rally of
Turkey this weekend, his second points' finish in succession after
he broke his duck two weeks ago in Jordan.
Raikkonen,
who of course only started rallying last year and who was
competing in only his ninth-ever rally, beat several drivers with
far more experience during the three-day event and he set some
very competitive times.
Indeed
he was in the top ten in every single test, his best individual
stage result coming at the end of the first day, when he was fifth
quickest in the short 2.20 kilometre Istanbul super special stage.
He
eventually finished around 2 minutes off his Citroen Junior
team-mate, Sebastien Ogier, who was fourth, and over a minute up
on Federico Villagra and Matt Wilson, who were sixth and seventh
respectively in their Ford Focus RS WRC cars.
"I'm
really pleased with the way it's gone," said Raikkonen.
"There was nothing particularly special; we just paid good
attention to the pace notes and made sure that we made no mistakes.
"The
stages were really tough, particularly on the last day when it was
very muddy: it felt like driving on ice. I'm learning all the time
though and that's a really nice feeling: a bit like my early days
of circuit racing.
"I
am feeling more and more confident with the Citroen C4 WRC and I
was very happy with the pace that we are able to maintain without
taking any risks. We were able to get closer to the drivers who
are in front of us, which is our key objective. The hard work we
have done with the team is now paying off. We've got a few weeks
now before our next rally [as I am not doing Rally New Zealand]
but our goal remains unchanged: we will have to continue to
improve."
Citroen
Junior Team manager, Benoit Nogier and Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj
Lindstrom meanwhile were both impressed with the 2007 F1 world
champion's latest performance in the WRC.
"Kimi
has driven his best rally since the start of the season. It wasn't
only a rally of attrition; he got past some of his rivals on pure
pace and that is the proof that he is making progress," said
Nogier. "It's very encouraging."
"It's
been really nice to be involved in a new project from the very
beginning, and to help a driver develop in rallying," added
Lindstrom. "The fact that it is with Kimi and Red Bull just
makes it all the more special for me.
"I
have to say that he has been really impressive on this event: you
would never guess that he has so little experience in a rally car.
I know that we can build on this progress now."
|