Räikkönen completes two-day truck test
Apr 7, 2011 | 11:31 AM
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Räikkönen completes two-day truck test
Räikkönen completes two-day truck test - GPUpdate.net
Kimi Räikkönen has completed a two-day NASCAR truck test ahead of his debut in the American series on 20 May. The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion will be taking part in the Toyota Tundra after spending 2010 in the World Rally Championship with Citroën.
“It was a lot of fun,” the Finn wrote on the team’s Facebook page after the gathering at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. “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.”
By switching to a NASCAR series, 31-year-old Räikkönen is following in the footsteps of Nelson Piquet Jr. and ex McLaren team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
Kimi Räikkönen has completed a two-day NASCAR truck test ahead of his debut in the American series on 20 May. The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion will be taking part in the Toyota Tundra after spending 2010 in the World Rally Championship with Citroën.
“It was a lot of fun,” the Finn wrote on the team’s Facebook page after the gathering at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. “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.”
By switching to a NASCAR series, 31-year-old Räikkönen is following in the footsteps of Nelson Piquet Jr. and ex McLaren team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
Apr 10, 2011 | 02:58 PM
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Former F1 champ Kimi Raikkonen tests Kyle Busch truck, already has sights on Cup, Nationwide races | NASCAR News Now - SceneDaily.com
FORT WORTH, Texas – Former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen tested a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck today at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and already has talked to team owner Kyle Busch about running Nationwide and Sprint Cup events.
The 31-year-old Finnish driver, who currently competes full time in the World Rally Championship after a nine-year F1 career that included his 2007 championship while driving for Ferrari, tested Monday and Tuesday at Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park.
An international star with 18 career F1 victories, Raikkonen has sponsorship from Perky Jerky beef jerky for his NASCAR races and several international companies as personal sponsors – making the Cup talk more than just a driver fantasy.
But his only signed deal as of today, according to sources, is with KBM for an unspecified number of truck races. The first will come May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the plan likely is to run three to five races.
“He has asked after the truck debut in Charlotte, which is what our first focus is, to kind of evaluate and see where he’s at and how he feels and what he wants to do,” Busch said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway.
“He has asked about Nationwide and Cup and if Kyle Busch Motorsports could do that or where would be the best place to do that. He wants to re-evaluate all that once we get past Charlotte.”
Raikkonen is a Red Bull athlete but Red Bull Racing has not had any conversations with him about competing in NASCAR, team general manager Jay Frye said Friday. He has talked with other Cup teams, according to sources. The most likely place for a Cup debut would be at the road course at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. in June.
KBM might be able to field a Nationwide car for Raikkonen, but a Cup program likely would be a stretch for Busch’s organization.
“We just said we would evaluate,” Busch said about what he told Raikkonen when asked about doing Nationwide or Cup. “I’ve told everybody here that KBM would like to go to Nationwide. We would like to have a full-time Nationwide team next year. In order to work towards that, you would work towards that this year.
“If it came to be the right situation and we could get cars built or get cars from JGR, it would all be a tell-tale thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, our focus is on Charlotte and the truck race there and making sure we get the right stuff under Kimi that he can run well there.”
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart said it would be difficult for an organization such as his to try to field a part-time car for someone such as Raikkonen where he would have to hire additional people full time even though the schedule was part-time.
"I'm not interested in having Kimi right now," Stewart said. "There's no doubt he can drive a race car and has a lot of talent, but he's got to drive a stock car quite a while before we're going to look at someone like him to jump in a car."
As far as the tests in the last few days, Busch said Raikkonen has had no problem going fast in the truck.
“The test went really well at Gresham,” Busch said. “Kimi is a race-car driver so he does know how to drive race cars and drive them well. … I got to get in the truck myself and ran some laps just to kind of see where I compared to where he was at on tires and stuff, and we ran identical lap times.
“So he’s right there. He knows what he’s doing.”
Part of the test at Gresham was to get Raikkonen used to the intricacies of NASCAR racing.
“It was just kind of getting his feet used to running caution laps, running down pit road, watching the lights on the tach and how all that goes and then working on some restart stuff and getting him accustomed to coming up through the gears quick and not spinning the tires on restarts,” Busch said. “There are still some things that we’d like to work on a little bit more, but we don’t feel like there’s any time before he gets back [for the race].
“They were in Rockingham [Thursday] with our trucks, and he did good again. He ran a lot better than we expected to run there, a lot faster than we expected to run there. So I’m real happy with it.”
In a statement released after the Gresham test, Raikkonen said he enjoyed his first time in the truck.
“It was a lot of fun,” Raikkonen said. “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.”
Juan Pablo Montoya, who made the move from Formula One to NASCAR, says he is not surprised that Raikkonen adapted quickly. He expects him to make a smooth transition to NASCAR.
"He’s been driving rally cars and things and moving around a lot in unpredictable things like that. So, no, I am not surprised at all," Montoya said. "I think Kimi has a lot of talent. It will be interesting to see when he gets to a big track, you have to be a little more patient.
"I think he will be fine. He is pretty good. If anybody can do it, it will be him. I think he will be ok.”
FORT WORTH, Texas – Former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen tested a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck today at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and already has talked to team owner Kyle Busch about running Nationwide and Sprint Cup events.
The 31-year-old Finnish driver, who currently competes full time in the World Rally Championship after a nine-year F1 career that included his 2007 championship while driving for Ferrari, tested Monday and Tuesday at Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park.
An international star with 18 career F1 victories, Raikkonen has sponsorship from Perky Jerky beef jerky for his NASCAR races and several international companies as personal sponsors – making the Cup talk more than just a driver fantasy.
But his only signed deal as of today, according to sources, is with KBM for an unspecified number of truck races. The first will come May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the plan likely is to run three to five races.
“He has asked after the truck debut in Charlotte, which is what our first focus is, to kind of evaluate and see where he’s at and how he feels and what he wants to do,” Busch said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway.
“He has asked about Nationwide and Cup and if Kyle Busch Motorsports could do that or where would be the best place to do that. He wants to re-evaluate all that once we get past Charlotte.”
Raikkonen is a Red Bull athlete but Red Bull Racing has not had any conversations with him about competing in NASCAR, team general manager Jay Frye said Friday. He has talked with other Cup teams, according to sources. The most likely place for a Cup debut would be at the road course at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. in June.
KBM might be able to field a Nationwide car for Raikkonen, but a Cup program likely would be a stretch for Busch’s organization.
“We just said we would evaluate,” Busch said about what he told Raikkonen when asked about doing Nationwide or Cup. “I’ve told everybody here that KBM would like to go to Nationwide. We would like to have a full-time Nationwide team next year. In order to work towards that, you would work towards that this year.
“If it came to be the right situation and we could get cars built or get cars from JGR, it would all be a tell-tale thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, our focus is on Charlotte and the truck race there and making sure we get the right stuff under Kimi that he can run well there.”
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart said it would be difficult for an organization such as his to try to field a part-time car for someone such as Raikkonen where he would have to hire additional people full time even though the schedule was part-time.
"I'm not interested in having Kimi right now," Stewart said. "There's no doubt he can drive a race car and has a lot of talent, but he's got to drive a stock car quite a while before we're going to look at someone like him to jump in a car."
As far as the tests in the last few days, Busch said Raikkonen has had no problem going fast in the truck.
“The test went really well at Gresham,” Busch said. “Kimi is a race-car driver so he does know how to drive race cars and drive them well. … I got to get in the truck myself and ran some laps just to kind of see where I compared to where he was at on tires and stuff, and we ran identical lap times.
“So he’s right there. He knows what he’s doing.”
Part of the test at Gresham was to get Raikkonen used to the intricacies of NASCAR racing.
“It was just kind of getting his feet used to running caution laps, running down pit road, watching the lights on the tach and how all that goes and then working on some restart stuff and getting him accustomed to coming up through the gears quick and not spinning the tires on restarts,” Busch said. “There are still some things that we’d like to work on a little bit more, but we don’t feel like there’s any time before he gets back [for the race].
“They were in Rockingham [Thursday] with our trucks, and he did good again. He ran a lot better than we expected to run there, a lot faster than we expected to run there. So I’m real happy with it.”
In a statement released after the Gresham test, Raikkonen said he enjoyed his first time in the truck.
“It was a lot of fun,” Raikkonen said. “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.”
Juan Pablo Montoya, who made the move from Formula One to NASCAR, says he is not surprised that Raikkonen adapted quickly. He expects him to make a smooth transition to NASCAR.
"He’s been driving rally cars and things and moving around a lot in unpredictable things like that. So, no, I am not surprised at all," Montoya said. "I think Kimi has a lot of talent. It will be interesting to see when he gets to a big track, you have to be a little more patient.
"I think he will be fine. He is pretty good. If anybody can do it, it will be him. I think he will be ok.”
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