Kimi keen to keep learning
Date published : 19 Aug 2010 - 16:00:58
Former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen claims he is not yet ready to challenge the established stars in the World Rally Championship despite setting times inside the top five during several stages at the last round.
Raikkonen heads into round nine in Germany lying 11th overall in the driver standings after impressing on the opening day of the previous event in Bulgaria. The Finnish driver was fourth overall before rolling his Citroen C4 WRC in stage four, the Citroen Junior team member going on to finish the event in 11th.
He told www.wrc.com: "There is so much variety on a rally: every kilometre and every corner is different. That's why experience is so important in this sport. So I just need to keep on building up my knowledge. I will try my best in Germany but I really need to make sure that I am there at the finish so that I can learn all about this event."
He added: "I don't know exactly what the German stages will be like, but I know that they will be very different to Bulgaria.
"In racing, the surface of one circuit is not massively different to the surface of another, although there are some small changes. In rallying, the difference is huge on every event.
Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom knows what to expect from the event, having competed in Germany twice before with four-time world champion Tommi Makinen.
Lindstrom said: "This is only going to be Kimi's second world championship asphalt rally, and just his ninth WRC event. Germany is not going to be an easy one, but Bulgaria was very good for us and we continued making progress in Finland.
"I'm really pleased by the way that Kimi has come so far in an extremely short space of time: nobody has rallied at this level before with so little experience, and that's a great achievement.
"For me, the most important thing in Germany is that we continue learning, work hard on our pace notes, and try to get a solid result. Like Kimi said, it's all about getting the experience."
Defending champion Sebastien Loeb heads into the event leading the standings by 48 points from Citroen team-mate and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier.
