Mais do mundo de Kimi...

Dando continuação à matéria da AutoSprint postada ontem aqui no Octeto, hoje trago as partes onde pessoas que trabalham com Kimi no rally falam sobre ele e sua adaptação à nova categoria. Os textos foram traduzidos por Whatever e Tania, ambos do Fórum Oficial de Kimi Räikkönen.

Kaj Lindstrom

Raikkonen’s co-driver

He is more secure now

One that has run for two World Championships (2002 and 2003) beside Tommy Makinen, winning Montecarlo’s Rally, should be satisfied. Instead, Kaj Lindstrom is facing the adventure beside Raikkonen with beginner’s enthusiasm. The 41 years-old is an expert after 20 rally seasons.

What have you and Kimi have said to each other, before and after the last super special, in the Lanterna Rally?

“Before, we were talking about pushing and trying to keep Ogier behind us. Later we said to ourselves that we were to slow. All here. We ruined the front-left and the rear-left wheels in the penultimate stage, that long one: signs of battle. It was a great challenge, and for the first time Kimi felt like a real rally driver”.

And Now?

“Now he has grown. Having battled like that with Ogier, that is the driver of the moment, it has been much more profitable in sight of Rally Bulgaria. We go there in order to be with the big ones. This is the difference between here and there. But we think about nothing: just drive”.

Raikkonen seen from his point of view…

“He is a pretty boy, easy going: it’s easy to do things with him. He has approached Rally with the right attitude, knowing how to drive but wanting to learn with humility. He has never thought: this I know already. And he doesn’t expect miracles”.

What is missing now to arrive to the summit?

“Experience, just that. Talent he has more than enough, but rallies are completely different from F1. He doesn’t want to rush, he have said this to you before.

Tradução para inglês: Whatever

HE NEEDS TIME TO GROW

Benoit Nogier – He goes faster than music

Who’s better than a technician to describe a driver? Benoit Nogier frequently sees Kimi Raikkonen at work, so it’s perfectly able to judge him.

- What kind of rally driver is Kimi?

“On the gravel, at the beginning, he made slide the car too much. While the others, Loeb, Ogier and so on, usually try to run along the road in the shorter way, he skidded a lot. In a finnish way old style, I would say, but today that kind of driving doesn’t worth. You lose downforce and traction and you can see it in the final times.”

- Speaking about laptimes, why is Kimi still so far away from the top at the end of the race?

“ Today rallies are very fast, we can’t forget it. And he has improved a lot. It’s all about experience. In Portugal he was at 1.5-1.7 sec/km, in Turkey, where he felt better, the gap was less than 1 sec/km.”

- Is he an istinctive or a calculating driver?

“Both. Like all the good drivers. Today Kimi is aware of his level, he knows what it is. He has understood he has to improve and he’ll improve on the way. He has to know everything, make more experience. He just lacks of that. He has the skills to go fast but he lacks of experience and so he takes risks that he doesn’t even know he’s taking. Speaking about one who exaggerates, in France we say: “he goes faster than music”. And that’s what Kimi did, for example, in Mexico.”

- Does he feel the changes of the car?

“Yes. But he’s never sure if he’s going in the right direction.”

- What kind of results can we expect from now to the end of the year?

“It’s difficult to say. All the rallies are new for him, Finland apart, where anyway he raced with a Super200 and not with a WRC. Japan and Wales are both two difficult races for one who has never raced there. We’ll see. I’m looking forward to see what will happen on the tarmac in Bulgaria, specially after the second place he got at the Lanterna Rally.

- What do you like most in Kimi?

“His sobriety”.

And he maliciously smiles, Nogier, while he’s saying it...

MAREK NAWARECKI (Citroen PR) - It's a Global Challenge

Even from the media point of view – well, above all from that – Kimi Raikkonen makes himself conspicuous. So, we asked to a PR what is the impact on the media of such a character.

- Does it work more one like Loeb or like Raikkonen?

“Kimi has a large following around the world – explains Marek Nawarecki. Loeb too. But the difference is that Raikkonen attracts new people, not necessarily informed about rally, so he “fishes” in a new kind of audience. That is very good for this sport. On the contrary, Loeb attracts the fans who already follow the rallies.”

- What does it mean to have a character like Raikkonen in a team like Citroen?

“Firstly I have to say that it’s a great honour for us the fact he chose us, above all if we consider that he came from two myths of the races like McLaren and Ferrari. Then, we like a lot the kind of challenge that he’s facing. His adventure is a nice story, mainly for the sport. Also because none of the F1 drivers has ever competed in rally at this level, the highest level, and in this total way, that is to say applying himself in an exclusive way."

Tradução para Inglês: Tania

Não costumo gostar de quase nada, ou praticamente nada do que sai sobre Kimi na mídia italiana, porque eles são maldosos, preconceituosos, rancorosos, grosseiros e só falam merda (desculpem o termo, mas é a realidade) sobre Kimi, mas esta matéria eu gostei.

Fonte: AutoSprint

Beijinhos, Ice-Ludy