RE: Kimi Raikkonen To Go To NASCAR

[Pozidriva]

@ Hornet, Nice clip, I could watch that

[ludicrous speed]

Those who say it's boring probably love formula 1, which is quite funny really.

[PabloTeK]

NASCAR is actually rather good, especially when it hits the road courses! Watkins Glen, Infineon and Talladega are all worth watching as they are either different (Talladega, 190mph+ in a pack of 43 cars all together) or just plain old good racing (The road courses).

[Stevie Mojo]

I'm sure the Yanks will love his little happy face.

[Jasper Gilder]

To get up front he got to get past one J P Montoya who ( let us not forget)won the last GP for Williams, came 2nd in the World Championship and won the Indy 500. Both are real racers - but they'll struggle against the Good Ole Boys as JPM has shown

[JMC1]

Don't do it Kimi,

Swallow your pride Kimi and go and drive the Renault for pennies not £ millions and give something back to the sport and fans. Who knows what could then happen.

[hornet]

Pozidriva said:

@ Hornet, Nice clip, I could watch that

The Watkins Glen races are always good as well, if sometimes a bit of a destruction derby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct54vcNdbP8

The Nationwide oval races are shorter than the main Cup events, so tend to be more exciting, whereas the truck series is just crazy from start to finish.

[1]

Fair play. He is one of the few to have the balls to just do what he enjoys rather than dancing to everyone else's tune.

I always got the impression it was all the bullst that went with F1 that he didnt enjoy. If Montoya is anything to do by Nascar could be the perfect place for him.

[stew-S160]

Excellent news.
When current top F1 drivers are restricted almost from taking part in any other activity unless it's a PR event, it's great to see a top level driver trying those options available to him, like they did in the old days.

And being a KR fan, I hope he does well.

[DeltaEvo2]

I wonder if he'd allowed to grab an ice cream...

[fatboy18]

ludicrous speed said:

Those who say it's boring probably love formula 1, which is quite funny really.

Brilliant comment
I do wish we had more TV coverage of the bigger NASCAR races, with more F1 stars making the move hopefully the UK networks might take notice!

Have to say Ive been a spectator at both F1 and NASCAR, As a spectator NASCAR is much more entertaining

[jake15919]

Pozidriva said:

My first post on PH, so Hi.

Interesting news about Raikkonen, though the name he's been linked with doesn't have a very enviable reputation, being Foster Gillett, son of George.

WRC does leave quite a few empty weekends so perhaps Raikkonens keen to get back onto some tarmac, I wonder what JPM thinks of it all.

Doomed to fail. as is any sporting venture connected with this odious family. Foster Gillett is the idiot that said to a Liverpool fan '..blow me f*ckface.', a comment that cost him his place on the board and was a contributory factor in his father loosing the club and roughly £70m.

[superkartracer]

Kimi's fast in everything, will be interesting to watch. He's even the fastest on snow-bikes FFS, this mans awesome.

[dudleybloke]

the pace notes should be a lot easyer to follow.

left...left...left...left..

[scubadude]

Hope he's been getting personality therapy, the Yanks will never understand his aperthetic post-race analysis (although his ice cream addiction will be right up their street)

I'd watch NASCAR if it where ever on the TV on a channel I could get and not between 1am and 5am....

[weyland yutani]

Kimi had a very good Rally Portugal and is getting quicker with each round so I hope he stays commited to WRC.

If he want's to try something different he should give the Auzzie V8SC's a go, brilliant series with some of the best tin-top racing I've seen in a while. No offence but nascar is ste.

[monkey11477]

how weird, I'm watching Talladega Nights right now. I'd love to see Kimi do a bit of shake & bake

[Crow555]

weyland yutani said:

Kimi had a very good Rally Portugal and is getting quicker with each round so I hope he stays commited to WRC.

In that he didn't total the car? Not being funny but Petter Solberg finished ahead of him and he was super-rallying. He doesn't have the pace to keep up with the likes of Ogier, Loeb, Latvala, Hirvonen or Solberg. Even Matthew Wilson finish ahead of him.

[deveng]

JMC1 said:

Don't do it Kimi,

Swallow your pride Kimi and go and drive the Renault for pennies not £ millions and give something back to the sport and fans. Who knows what could then happen.

why should he bother? he's won the world championship, so has very little to gain from the sport. I think its a great idea to go to NASCAR, and ask previously mentioned, should do Indy Car Las Vegas as well.

I'd like to see him do a few years in the USA then DTM

[Twincam16]

There are strong hints of Jim Clark about Kimi Raikkonen, always seeking to see whether he can win in something else. I like that and we don't see it enough.

In a typical season, Clark would do F1, F2, F3, the British Saloon Car Championship, Le Mans, various rallies, and any sports car race he could lay his hands on. Granted, he was driving for Lotus, which had fingers in all those pies, but even more impressively it seems Raikkonen has set up his own team to do just that, albeit on an equivalent fraction of Colin Chapman's budget.