Raikkonen goes to NASCAR

Räikkönen's NASCAR-tests continue on Thursday

Turun Sanomat 6.4 2011 22:54:21

The crowned king of track-racing, Kimi Räikkönen, drove for the first time in his life two days on an American oval track and he will continue his adventure by testing Kyle Busch Motosports -team's Toyota Tundra on Thursday.

Räikkönen circled on Monday and Tuesday 400 times the half mile oval in Gresham. He has now about 320 km experience of the Camping World Truck -car. The laptimes have been solid and the driver's professionality has now come to its own.

What is driving on ovals like?

– New and different, Räikkönen tells Turun Sanomat shortly not wanting to explain it more.

Räikkönen's ICE1 Racing -team has leased a truck from the leading KBM-team only for Charlotte's race on 20th May. According to Kyle Busch they have been negotiating about 3-5 truck-class races with Räikkönen's representatives.

In practice everything is wide open and Räikkönen's own feeling will decide how he will start developing his NASCAR-career.

Different setup-work

The first testing session is purely an experiment to understand driving on ovals. To find setups for corners that continuously turn in the same direction on a track with inclination is also very unusual when comparing to European track-classes.

– This offers Kimi an interesting new world and a completely new challenge. The most important thing is now to proceed with patience, Räikkönen's spokesman Riku Kuvaja said.

– NASCAR is a really huge and very professionally run show, Kuvaja emphasises.

Kyle Busch announced last Saturday in Martinsville Speedway NASCAR-race that he has done a deal with Räikkönen's ICE1 Racing over a selected race schedule in Camping World Truck Series.

Rally notes already on Monday

After the tests are over Räikkönen will return to Europe and go to the Middle-East because Jordan's WRC-rally is next week. He starts making pace notes on Monday, the rally takes off on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

After Jordan Räikkönen skips Sardinia's and Argentina's rallies. This way he has time to concentrate on his NASCAR-debut.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

GRESHAM, Ga. (April 6, 2011)- Just two days after finalizing a partnership to run a limited NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), IceOne Racing's Kimi Raikkonen participated in a two-day test in the team's Toyota Tundra's at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson. Ga.

Rick Ren, General Manager Kyle Busch Motorsports:

"Overall the test went really well. We ran about 400 laps total between Monday and Tuesday. Kimi provided good feedback that allowed us to make our Toyota Tundra go faster. He is very methodical with his acceleration, braking and steering and there is no doubt that he has a good feel for a race vehicle. We threw a lot at him over the two days. We made a lot of chassis changes to both the front and rear. Shock adjustments, air pressure adjustments and trackbar adjustments so he could get a good feel for how these adjustments affect the handling of the truck. For being unfamiliar with a truck and unfamiliar with the track, he did an outstanding job. We made both race runs and qualifying runs and there is no doubt that making the truck go fast will not be a problem."

Kimi Raikkonen:

"It was a lot of fun, I really had no expectations or anything to compare it to beforehand but at the end of the day, I am really looking forward to the first race. It seems like KBM is a top team and I am excited to work with them."

That said, NASCAR has an approval process to allow drivers on the track and it's fairly stringent. The committee doesn't announce it, but it turns drivers down on a fairly regular basis. It's a process that typically begins with a driver being approved for a short track in the Truck series and then advancing to bigger tracks and eventually to the Nationwide and Cup series.

The committee has approved Raikkonen for Charlotte, which is surprising. It's 1.5 miles, big, fast and dangerous. The committee places a high value on him being an F1 champion, and they should; he's one of the world's greatest race car drivers. But it's also a deviation from the usual thought process, made to accommodate Raikkonen's schedule in the World Rally Championship. Montoya, for example, began his NASCAR career at .75-mile Memphis. NASCAR understands that a driver of Raikkonen's magnitude could deliver massive worldwide ratings, offset the shrinking domestic numbers and keep global brand sponsors such as FedEx, Shell, Red Bull and many others happy.

#NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader @KyleBusch says he ran the same times as Kimi Raikkonen @NASCAR_Trucks test http://twitpic.com/4i0nkm

Kimi avrebbe girato sugli stessi tempi di Kyle Busch. Se volete approfondire ecco chi è Busch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Busch

NASCAR: Räikkönen testing again, could run Cup race at Sonoma
Just two days after saying Kimi Räikkönen’s recent test in Georgia would be his only NASCAR test this spring, Kyle Busch Motorsports sent the ex-Formula One driver to test again, this time at the one-mile, high-banked Rockingham Speedway in the Sandhills region of North Carolina.

Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 world champion and a current World Rally Championship driver, will make his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series on May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. To prepare for that 200-mile event, KBM had Räikkönen run about 400 laps on Monday and Tuesday at the half-mile, low-banked Gresham Motorsports Park north of Atlanta. At the time, Busch’s staff said it would be Räikkönen’s only test before the Charlotte race.

It’s been suggested that Räikkönen might run not only the Truck Series race at Charlotte, but also the June 26 Sprint Cup road-course race in Sonoma, Calif. He’s allowed to test at Gresham and Rockingham because those tracks don’t host races in any of NASCAR’s top three series.

On Thursday, Todd Hirschfeld of Räikkönen’s organization confirmed the Rockingham test and said, “We are taking this one step at a time regarding any additional races beyond what has been announced.”