It’s always good to see F1 drivers competing in other racing championships. Kimi Raikkonen’s exploits on four wheels outside of F1 are much celebrated.
This one didn’t end so well, though – the Ferrari star crashed his Abarth Grande Punto S2000 on the third stage of the Rally della Marca in Italy.
He was 17th overall and eighth in the S2000 class at the time of the crash.
This is the third time he has competed in the Tommi Makinen Racing-prepared Punto.
Hopefully this minor skirmish won’t prevent him joining in other rallies and races. He famously contested and won an ice mobile race before the start of the 2007 championship under the pseudonym ‘James Hunt’.
Read more: If Hamilton and Kubica want to race elsewhere they should be allowed to
persempre
31st May 2009, 20:49
Ooops! He didn`t hit an ice cream stall did he? ;)
Damon
31st May 2009, 21:51
Haha James Hunt :)))
Damon
31st May 2009, 21:53
Something related to the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaLoBqHw2oM
Colin McRae testing Jordan F1 – Silverstone ’96
gaz
31st May 2009, 22:18
as some of you know i am not a ferrari fan but kimi is the man. a f1 driver who loves driving!….
i can’t wait for the stick!!!!
Melanie
31st May 2009, 22:30
Well Kimi also won that same snowmobile race again earlier this year, although this time he didn’t enter as James Hunt.
It is always good to see drivers try some other forms of racing, this was Kimi’s first asphalt rally, although it didn’t quite work out I hope we will see him again soon in another rally!
It is also good of Ferrari to allow Kimi to take part in these events. It seems like the ban on testing is at least allowing drivers to try some other from of racing in their free time.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
31st May 2009, 23:22
I didn’t know he’d done it again – cool!
Didn’t Gilles Villeneuve make his start in racing on snow mobiles, or something similar?
Red Andy
1st June 2009, 0:24
Yes, Gilles was a snowmobile racer before he began his career racing cars. It’s said that’s where he picked up his unique driving style.
That part of Gilles’ career (and the rest) is covered superbly in Gerald Donaldson’s biography of the man. I thoroughly recommend it.
TommyB
31st May 2009, 22:58
I’d love more drivers to do Le Mans like Bourdais this year… And if they could do the Indy 500 that would just be incredible
ukk
1st June 2009, 8:00
… as they used to do in the past ;-)
TommyB
2nd June 2009, 15:00
Yep Imagine someone pulling off the triple crown these days… Montoya anyone :P
Rahim
1st June 2009, 6:30
kimi u r the best
Alastair
1st June 2009, 8:57
LOL the ‘lazy’ Kimi spends his free weekend behind the wheel while the rest take a rest. I wonder what criticism he’ll reap from the likes of useless has-beens like E.J and D.C.
PJA
1st June 2009, 13:06
If the budget cap comes in and teams are forced to downsize, what I would like to see is instead of sacking loads of people for them to set up new race teams in different series, if it made financial sense.
It should make it easier for F1 drivers to race in other series, and we could have Ferrari enter Le Mans with the F1 race and test drivers in one car.
Chaz
1st June 2009, 15:11
Lol would it be safe to say that rallying is not on the cards as a future career for Kimi after F1…
Striay
1st June 2009, 19:01
He has had many offers from big teams in WRC Chaz.
Thats were everyone expects him to go at the end of his contract. (hopefully, i can meet him before his retierment, because knowing him, he won’t appear in an F1 race again in his life).
… The crash was caused by hitting a stone wall. However it is not enierly his fault as he had differential problems in the car which caused severe handeling problems, causing the crash.
KIMSTER THE BEST!!!
Striay
1st June 2009, 19:02
Cant i edit my posts? I forgot to fix my typos!
Melanie
1st June 2009, 21:32
Some more information about the rally:
Kimi Raikkonen’s first attempt at asphalt rallying came to a premature end on Saturday when a mechanical problem led to his retirement from the Rally della Marca.
The Ferrari Formula One star was driving his own Abarth Grande Punto S2000 on the Italian rally, but was affected from the start by a broken centre differential.
The Finn struggled through two stages but stopped on the third after his car’s wayward handling contributed to an impact with a wall which broke a rear track control arm.
Raikkonen was co-driven by Kaj Lindstrom, the man who formerly partnered multiple WRC champion Tommi Makinen.
Lindstrom told wrc.com it was a disappointing way to end an event which had looked promising. “We tested on Tuesday last week and Kimi was doing so well, his driving was really impressive,” he said. “You can see how he can go 300kph a F1 car. He knows how to take the fast corners and he knows that sometimes the tyres slide a bit and he’s not upset with that. He’s good on snow and gravel but certainly very talented on tarmac.”
The problems started as the pair drove to the pre-event shakedown. “We knew something was wrong with the car and when the boys had a look they found the centre diff was broken,” he said. “They changed it for the rally but apparently it broke again, for reasons we don’t yet know. The car wasn’t working properly even on the first stage. It was like driving a rear-wheel drive car, but then every now and then you’d get full four-wheel drive and the front wheels would pull. It was very inconsistent and made the handling nervous – especially under braking.
“We did two stages, and then 4km into the third the car went off under braking and hit a concrete wall with a rear corner, breaking the lower control arm. We carried on for about 7km but we had to stop.”
Lindstrom said Raikkonen had coped with the situation well, and hinted that more rally outings were on the cards. “After the impact he said he wasn’t that upset because the car wasn’t performing as it should be,” said Lindstrom. “Even after the first stage we had given away a lot of time. It would have been a different story if the car had been okay. Looking forward, yeah, there is a plan. I’d say it’s most likely he will do more rallies this year.”
pSynrg
1st June 2009, 22:59
Lol, I think Kimi will be purchasing a German car once he leaves Ferrari.
David Smith
2nd June 2009, 20:48
At least it wasn’t KERS related!!!
Nick
2nd June 2009, 23:35
Kimi is best!
jack chen
9th June 2009, 8:56
yes!i agree with you