Citroën PR release:
Arctic Lapland Rally
The Arctic Lapland Rally, based around Rovaniemi - a small town in Finland close to the Arctic Circle - offered a happy hunting ground for Citroën Racing Technologies. With the Rally Sweden just two weeks away, the team was able to fit in some useful practice by entering two C4 WRCs. With World Rally Cars not allowed on the Finnish Championship, a special category was set up by the organisers.
After his first rally at the wheel of a WRC machine, Kimi Räikkönen was also able to draw a positive conclusion. Throughout two days of the rally, the gap between Dani and the Finn stayed consistent at around eight-tenths of a second per kilometre. "Things didn't exactly get off to the best start as we went off the road during the second stage" said the Citroën Junior Team driver.
"But luckily there was no mechanical damage and I was able to continue in the rally. From there it got a lot better from me and we were much more consistent. We put a few more kilometres under our belt, which was vital to help us continue learning the C4 WRC. As well as being pleased by our performance I was also pleased by the way we were able to work with the team. We developed our set-up in the right direction and now we are going to continue our work in order to arrive in Sweden in the strongest possible position."
Benoit Nogier, Citroën Racing Technologies team manager, concluded: "This practice event allowed the team to make more progress in preparation for the Rally Sweden. Dani drove exactly the sort of rally that we expected from him. He was fast and consistent, growing in confidence on the surface that comes least naturally to him. As for Kimi, he was quickly able to put his mishap at the start of the rally behind him and get to the end of a complex event, whilst improving at the same pace as Dani."