Räikkönen at the Arctic Rally in C4

For his debut behind the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC, Kimi Räikkönen will take part in the Arctic Lapland Rally which will start on January 29. Fifteen days before the start of the WRC season in Sweden, the Finn will refine his preparation in order to get used to driving the C4 World Rally Car. “ Kimi will participate in the Arctic Rally. The Lappish test will be a perfect preparation for the Rally from Sweden », Declares Olivier Quesnel, director of Citroën Racing, in AUTOhebdo.

Accompanied by his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, the World Champion of F1 2007 already knows the event since he took part in the opening round of the Finnish Rally Championship in 2009. ? It?s something important for us to compete in the Arctic Rally – we really wanted to take part in the event to prepare ourselves for next season », adds Lindstrom on wrc.com. “ This is a rally that we have already competed in with Kimi. He therefore knows – more or less – the special stages and this will be a great opportunity for him to gain experience in terms of driving and taking notes. »

Before competing in twelve of the thirteen rounds of the WRC season, Räikkönen could also take part in a pre-rally test session based in Rovaniemi, near the Arctic Circle. “ The ideal would be to return to the roads [near Jyvaskyla] that we took before the Arctic and Rally Finland this year "added Lindstrom. “ Kimi knows these stages well now, so this would be the ideal place to gain experience with the car. This is what we would like to do but for the moment, we have not decided anything with Citroën. We will know more next year. »

Find all the information concerning the arrival of Kimi Räikkönen at Citroën in AUTOhebdo number 1730 available on newsstands.