Kimi Raikkonen

[Jean-François Descarries 0]

Kimi Raikkonen, the Flying Finn, en NASCAR Camping World dès cet été !!! Un double champion du monde qui raffole des courses à l' Américaine !!! Rien pour nous nuire !

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Ok mais n'oublié pas quel date nous serons vendredi.............

[Jean-François Descarries 0]

The just-ended silly season talk was all about former F1 world champ and current WRC driver Kimi Raikkonen going back into F1, but today the tide has turned in a most surprising direction: NASCAR. Multiple reports are citing a Finnish newspaper interview with Raikkonen, who states he'll be joining the NASCAR Truck series before graduating to Nationwide and eventually Sprint Cup racing.

If the move takes place, the Finn could join the oval-track field as early as this summer, according to the Turun Sanomat. Raikkonen is to team with Foster Gillett to form a new team called ICE1 Racing, borrowing from Raikkonen's "Ice Man" nickname.

According to the Finnish paper, Raikkonen is "really looking forward" to joining NASCAR's ranks, and he "just love[s] the American spirit of racing." Despite his excitement for NASCAR, Raikkonen is expected to continue to run WRC events for the remainder of the season.

Will Raikkonen have better luck with NASCAR than he has with WRC thus far? Or even more importantly, will he see more success than other former F1 drivers have in the roundy-round sport? It will be an interesting summer

Les sources sont des plus sérieuses ! (excusez pour l'anglais )

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Il faudrait aussi lire ce que pense Ray Everham ex Gillett Everham Motorsport de cette rumeur... Voir www.jayski.com pour plus de développement!

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April 02, 2011 12:56 PM, EST
Kyle Busch Motorsports announced Saturday -- one day after the team owner danced around questions about former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen coming to NASCAR -- that the Finn would drive a limited schedule in the 2011 Camping World Truck Series in KBM trucks.


Raikkonen, who has raced a partial schedule in the World Rally Championship since leaving Formula One after the 2009 season, will be a teammate to Busch, who won the 2010 Truck Series' owners' championship in his team's first season, at Raikkonen's debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20.



Kimi Raikkonen (Getty Images) “
"I think the NASCAR world, in general, has got to be in interest of it so hopefully it'll be a big deal ... He seems to be good in whatever he's been able to race in.
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-- KYLE BUSCH"We're starting at Charlotte and we'll kind of fill out from there, see what other races he wants to do and what his schedule will allow him to do," Busch said Saturday morning. "We know we're going to go test with him on Monday and get him some laps in the truck and then we're going to see him in Charlotte, so we're looking forward to that -- all the Kyle Busch Motorsports people are."


KBM plans to test Raikkonen on Monday at the half-mile Gresham Motorsports Park oval in Jefferson, Ga., a regular testing site for all divisions of NASCAR competitors. Busch later said Raikkonen's Truck schedule would include "between three to five races."


The story that first surfaced this week in a Finnish newspaper said Raikkonen was interested in starting in Trucks and transitioning to the Sprint Cup Series. It also said Raikkonen was considering partnering with controversy-ridden former NASCAR team executive Foster Gillett, but a KBM spokesman Saturday said Gillett "did not have any involvement -- this deal is between us and Kimi."


A spokesman for Raikkonen said he'd been told the Finn wanted to get Monday's test under his belt and that he would then make a statement about his future plans. KBM's release said details of sponsorship, Raikkonen's schedule and his team's structure would be released at a later date.


"I think the NASCAR world, in general, has got to be in interest of it so hopefully it'll be a big deal, and I'm looking forward to it," Busch said. "He seems to be good in whatever he's been able to race in."


Jeff Gordon said Raikkonen, who's racing this season in the WRC with his own ICE 1 Racing team, was taking a solid approach to his NASCAR entrée.




"I will say this is one type of series and vehicles that is much more difficult to learn than people think, most of the time," Gordon said. "I think the rally cars he's been driving probably will give him more experience or get him better prepared to come over to this series than any of his Formula One cars that he's ever driven.


"The last thing he needs to do is think he's going to get one of these cars to feel like a Formula One car, because they never will. I would just tell him to be patient and try to stay in the best equipment he can, and try to go out there and follow the guys who are going fast to learn the lines and the braking points at each of the tracks he goes to. That would be the quickest way to learn and adapt and become competitive."


NASCAR regular Juan Montoya was Raikkonen's teammate on the McLaren Formula One team in 2005 and half of '06. Their first season together, the pair won 10 of 19 F1 races with Raikkonen winning seven times. On Friday, Montoya said he would welcome his former teammate, and that there was more international interest in NASCAR than people might think.


"I think it would be cool if he comes here, he's a cool guy and I think he would fit right in," Montoya said. "[NASCAR is recognized] a lot higher than people think it is. I think people here are underrated at our level against worldwide. I think maybe if you would get the numbers of how many people internationally are watching these [NASCAR] races not only in America but in Europe and Asia, I think you would shock yourself. I think they are pretty amazing.


"People in Formula One are very selfish. They think there is nothing better out there [than Formula One]. You look from technology-wise, there's not. But the actual racing, [NASCAR] is exciting. It's exciting to watch, it's exciting to be here. When you hear about ovals and sometimes you watch them, the first time you watch it by yourself, 'oh yeah, it's a circle.'


"But if you come and actually see how fast we're going in real life, they go, 'Oh yeah, that's a lot faster than people think it is.' People are watching. Over the last few years when I came over people started paying attention to how I ran and I think a lot of people got hooked on it. I still receive emails from people from Formula One, 'Good luck in the race, great qualifying.' It's like, 'Oh, you're paying attention.' That is surprising."


"I am really excited to have the opportunity to start my venture into NASCAR with Kyle Busch Motorsports," Raikkonen said in KBM's release. "Kyle is one of the best in NASCAR, and being able to draw on his knowledge will be a valuable asset as I make my transition to a new form of racing. He has put together an experienced team that builds fast race trucks. I look forward to being a part of a team that has proven to be a winner on and off the race track."


"We are extremely excited to have Kimi Raikkonen begin his transition to NASCAR behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports' Toyota Tundras," KBM general manager Rick Ren said. "As NASCAR looks to expand their fan base and generate further interest in certain demographics, having a former Formula One champion with worldwide appeal is a huge deal, not just for KBM but for the sport as a whole."