Lotus-Renault won't let Kimi Raikkonen contest Rally Finland

Filed under: Motorsports, Lotus



The Formula One team formerly known as Renault and currently racing under the Lotus banner is still feeling the absence of its star driver Robert Kubica. The Polish driver, as you may recall, was severely injured when he crashed his Skoda Fabia S2000 in a rally in Italy two years ago. And now the driver who's keeping his seat warm wants to go rallying, too, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

That driver, of course, is Kimi Raikkonen, the former Formula One World Champion from Finland. The thing is that while Kubica, it could be argued, was merely moonlighting as a rally driver, Raikkonen has a proven track (or off-track) record in rallying. He did, after all, spend the last couple of seasons driving in the top-flight World Rally Championship for front-running team Citroën.

For his part, Raikkonen wasn't looking to contest the entire WRC season while also racing in F1 again, but he wanted to drive in his home stage of Rally Finland this August, a race he's contested every year for the last three. However, due to contract requirements, Raikkonen reportedly won't be allowed to get down and dirty in the race, likely for fear of injury.Lotus-Renault won't let Kimi Raikkonen contest Rally Finland originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 May 2012 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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