Jyväskylä has seen its fair share of drama down the years, but the 2009 Rally Finland was probably one occasion when it was more something of a soap opera.
The reason was all about the man they called Ice. The Iceman cometh. Then Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Räikkönen made his World Rally Championship debut aboard another motor from the northern Italian stable: a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000.
It was an amusing show to watch as red-jacketed Italian style came to terms with rallying and muddied loafers for the first time. Räikkönen found the whole scene as amusing as anybody. Beneath the baseball cap and behind the sunnies, he was smiling. He’d fancied a shot at this for a while and that event was, of course, the precursor to a full-time switch to the WRC for the next two seasons.
Now, the family’s back. This summer’s Rally Finland will mark the WRC debut of a second Räikkönen: Kimi’s nephew Justus.
The son of the 2007 F1 world champion’s bother Ramu will be 17 years, four months and 25 days when he starts his maiden WRC event in a Peugeot 208 Rally4.
In his second full season in rallying, Räikkönen the younger sits fifth in his class in the Finnish Rally Championship driving a Ford Fiesta. He’ll have to go some to eclipse his uncle’s top-10 finish at home in 2011.
