看起来爷的日子过得很哈皮麽……

Kimi's Column: Rally Jordan Preview
Source: KimiRaikkonen.com | Finnish translation courtesy of Nicole

Desert is Calling

Let's see what we have ahead of us now. We are going to a new place again and to a new country where I have never been before. It's the first place where Kaj hasn't raced either.

We know already that we are in for a really big new challenge again but we just have to get used to it. It's the name of the game in rally. No matter where we go the place is always different from the place where we rallied before.

It's been like this all season. All these three rallies have differed from each other massively. Compared to them Jordan is like from a different world. There you have to learn everything from scratch once again. We can't do more than try our best - and collect as much experience as fast as we can.

In the final games we cannot at least complain that this would be boring. We knew beforehand that this is what rally driving is. New driving surfaces, roads changing just like that and we have to work at full speed all the time.

I haven't regretted for one moment that I took this challenge. Each kilometre with the car is important to me and the more I drive a real rally with the car the better it feels.

Mexico is in the past. It went like it went. We have been learning rally the hard way. Every time we got some other program. But when we have been able to go forward it has felt good.

The car is strong. That much we know. If we can only stay on the track then the equipment will last.

After last rally we took a break and it did good for my body. After that we had the first tests on gravel and now we are going with positive feelings to drive in Jordan's rally.

There's no trees, no mountains. Only sand and dust - and the breaks are somewhere on the Dead Sea's beach. It's 100% sure that making the notes to this rally will be completely different from what I have done elsewhere. They have to be more in place than anywhere else since there are no real landmarks.

That's what this still is, us trying to get into the right rhythm with this equipment on gravel surface so that we wouldn't have to drive with stiff wrists all the time.

My goal is to finish the rally. If it doesn't fall in place then there is no other goal to achieve.

Let's see how fast the lead is taking it and what our ride in that bunch is.

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

WRC Kimi's blog - GOOD LUCK KIMI!

Source: WRC.com

Okay, so I never thought that a rally could be like holidays, but I have to say that so far here in Jordan it’s been pretty nice.

After the shakedown I had a bit of a chance to relax on the terrace at the hotel and look at the view over the Dead Sea. It’s such a hectic life that it’s nice to empty your head sometimes and think of nothing much. And what’s the point of going to all these different places if you don’t take the time to look at them occasionally? My life used to be a blur of airports and circuits and hotels but I’m determined to enjoy myself this year.

Jordan is a completely new experience for me, but that’s normal as more or less everything this year is new to me. Let’s just say that the whole atmosphere and way of working here is quite different to Formula One, but the challenges are even bigger for me.

I was thinking about that this morning when I drove the shakedown: I still have so few kilometres in the Citroen C4 WRC; basically a couple of hundred and that’s it. And now I’m starting a gravel rally that even the real experts say is quite tough. So I think it’s going to be an interesting few days. The main thing is to learn: you don’t suddenly find a load of time from out of nowhere in this game.

I have to say that I really like the world of rallying so far. It’s impossible to compare it to Formula One as it would be like comparing a square to a triangle, but everything seems just a bit more relaxed and friendly. Everyone has been very welcoming, but there’s still room for me to be myself.

The shakedown this morning was quite rough, but I think we could see some parts of the rally that are like this too, so it was good preparation. For me the main thing is going to be reaching the finish, as on an event that is as specialised as this one, you really need to see every stage. We had a good recce, although it was a bit warm as the air conditioning wasn’t working in the recce car. Strangely, it was actually cooler in the rally car at shakedown - as you have a huge air scoop in the roof that gives you a pretty good supply of cool air once you’re moving.

I’m still at the stage where there’s more time to come out of me than anything else. But if it all comes together - and even up to now, there have been a few moments where that has started to happen - I’d like to set a few decent times. Wish me luck..."

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