Räikkönen to follow Montoya to NASCAR?

[Paolo_Lasardi]

Raikkonen set for rally team switch and NASCAR races


From Red Bull to Monster Energy?

Thursday 16 December 2010 - 09h14, by GMM
Far from returning to F1, Kimi Raikkonen’s next move in the world of premier motor sport could be some races in the American NASCAR series.

That is the claim of the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper in Finland, reporting that formula one’s champion of 2007 is set to switch world rally teams from Citroen to Ford.

"Funding for the project is coming especially from the United States, and Raikkonen may be offered the chance to drive some NASCAR races," read the report.

Reportedly another possibility for Raikkonen is a berth alongside Ken Block at the Californian’s world rally team that is sponsored by the Monster energy drink.

"Kimi would be a dream teammate," Block said earlier in 2011, adding that a necessary budget for the extra car is the crucial factor.

Ilta-Sanomat cited sources within Citroen that said talks with Raikkonen about continuing in his Red Bull-funded seat have "failed to progress".

It seems that a F1 return is defenitely off the agenda.

[clovnul]

Not fun to crash only your car, it's much nicer when you take 3-4-5-10 cars with you.

[Reignman]

good one

[Rus-Evo]

I dont think one can be successful at NASCAR just hopping in dribs and drabs. The nature of it is complicated, especially car set up.

[zing]

Not fun to crash only your car, it's much nicer when you take 3-4-5-10 cars with you.

lol - good one.

[CK2010]

It would be great. I have watched some NASCAR races because of Montoya, but it would be grazy to see also Kimi in there.

Many people seem to think that F1 is the only option for race drivers, well it's not. So many more interesting racing series is out there.

[MONSTAR]

Kimi wont be a walk up start to NASCAR. He will have to test and race Trucks to even see how his pace is.

[zing]

Kimi wont be a walk up start to NASCAR. He will have to test and race Trucks to even see how his pace is.

Correct. It's not the easy task everyone thinks it is. Montoya has 2 career wins in the Sprint Cup, on road courses ...

[Reignman]

And Montoya already knew about the american way of handling things.

But Kimi has a big raw talent, he is fast straight away. We'll see.

[zing]

And Montoya already knew about the american way of handling things.

But Kimi has a big raw talent, he is fast straight away. We'll see.

That's what they said about Kimi in rally. Nascar is not about being fast - it's about drafting and
working with other drivers on the track. You can be extremely quick and not have drafting partners ...
you'll be at the back of the pack.

[_Zen_]

I guess the money must be huge. No offence to NASCAR but going from Racing F1 and WRC in Europe to racing Ovals in the USA is a pretty big step backwards IMO. The only F1 driver to succeed on ovals was Mansell (and he did it in his maiden year) , but that was the old PPG Cart series. (old Indy Car).
Nascar requires an extremely unique driving style and car setup, something which I do respect from the elite Nascar teams and drivers. But it is this exact quality that prevents them from eventually going on to another series, especially top level Formula series (F1) and Sports cars series (LeMans).

Ambrose had the potential to race sports cars in europe, instead he went to the US to race Nascars. There he will finish his career as a race driver, and slip into the void of ambiguous race drivers.

20 yrs from now in a pub down the road....

"Hey do you remember that aussie driver Marcus Ambrose?"
"Yeah... didn't he win Bathurst once?"
"Yeah I think so... yeah he did."
"What happened to him?"
"Don't know... never heard of him after he won Bathurst"

[DLT]

From what I understand, Kimi would make appearances at some Nascar events mainly due to sponsorship responsibilities (Monster), but his main "job" would be with the Monster rally team.

[MONSTAR]

From what I understand, Kimi would make appearances at some Nascar events mainly due to sponsorship responsibilities (Monster), but his main "job" would be with the Monster rally team.

I highly doubt it. Like i said, Kimi wont be a walk up start. A, he wont get a license to race Sprint Cup and B, he wouldnt be fast enough to qualify.

Truth is we probably will never see him race Sprint Cup. Maybe NationWide events.

[Mach]

I'd rather see Kimi driving at a monster truck rally

[ENGLAND]

haha in a batman truck yeahhhhhh!!

[Rus-Evo]

Should be Bigfoot!!

[moonraker]

The Citroen management must be idiots if they thought Kimi could hold his own in WDC after his history of half a dozen national events.

Kimi will/would be better in his second year of WDC as he will now know the stages but he will still be miles off the pace of the top few.

NASCAR would be a huge mistake for him.

[Rus-Evo]

Either Kimi is just not as sublime in non-open wheelers as he is in F1........or else he just needs to pay his dues by STICKING IN ONE TYPE OF RACING TO BUILD HIS SKILLS OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!

He wasnt even awesome at F1 at first!! I think he needed schooling by Nick and then DC right? He didnt beat a team mate till year three......or is my memory wrong?

[CK2010]

I have just read that Kimi's father Matti Räikkönen has passed away at 56 year old age. R.I.P.

Let us take a break from speculating where Kimi will race or will he quit. There's lot more important things in live than F1.

[Rus-Evo]

56 is young

[Mach]

RIP Kimis father

[KoKiNa]

Either Kimi is just not as sublime in non-open wheelers as he is in F1........or else he just needs to pay his dues by STICKING IN ONE TYPE OF RACING TO BUILD HIS SKILLS OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!

He wasnt even awesome at F1 at first!! I think he needed schooling by Nick and then DC right? He didnt beat a team mate till year three......or is my memory wrong?

OMG

[Rus-Evo]

Kimi was a top 3 driver...........any driver in the top 5 or 6 can said to be sublime I think........and all drivers able to lap an F1 car within a second of the pace can be considered as true masters in the art of driving.

[Mach]

....but Kimi was distracted by Ferrari contract "don't F1 race" clause....like Schumacher before him......

[Rus-Evo]

....but Kimi was distracted by Ferrari contract "don't F1 race" clause....like Schumacher before him......

I do not understand what you said.