Kimi Raikkonen made his debut on the Arctic Lapland Rally today but lasted just one and a half stages before he crashed his Citroen into a tree on the second stage, a 23km run called Aittajärvi through the snow-covered forests of Lapland. Neither Kimi nor his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom were hurt in the incident, but their C4 World Rally Car suffered damage to the right front corner, although the two men were able to get it back on the road, with help from spectators but they lost more than 15 minutes on the stage and picked up a further 20 minute in penalties. The team says that it hopes that Raikkonen will be able to continue.
The Arctic Lapland Rally is the opening round of the Finnish championship and is being used by Raikkonen as part of his preparation for his WRC campaign, which kicks off in Sweden on February 11.
Before the crash, Raikkonen recorded the second fastest time on the opening 11.27km Rantasipi Pohjanhovi/Mäntyvaara stage, 5.5secs behind fellow Citroen C4 driver, Dani Sordo.
The rally takes place in temperatures around minus 20 degrees C.
Fast but crashing… what a typical beginning of a promising WRC driver
At least we know he hasn’t lost drive. Learn the limits by crossing them, then pull back. What percent of his team’s budget is already earmarked for repairs?
I hope Kaj has his insurance paid up… Kimi’s so used to going fast that he’s going to have a tough time dialing it back to relearn everything.