Official: Räikkönen joins WRC with Citroën!

Citroën has announced that Kimi Räikkönen will join the World Rally Championship driving a Citroën for the junior team. The 2007 Formula 1 world champion will have former Junior WRC champion Sébastien Ogier as his teammate within the Red Bull Citroën team. He had a rather impressive season in WRC last year. Räikkönen is not […]

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Citroën has announced that Kimi Räikkönen will join the World Rally Championship driving a Citroën for the junior team. The 2007 Formula 1 world champion will have former Junior WRC champion Sébastien Ogier as his teammate within the Red Bull Citroën team. He had a rather impressive season in WRC last year.

Räikkönen is not a novice in the discipline as he settled behind the wheel of an Abarth S2000 for the WRC round in Finland earlier this year. He has earned the respect of his peers for the speed with which he adapted to the conditions. He has hinted for many years that he was keen to pursue a career in rallying after F1. When he announced last month that he would take a sabbatical following the breakdown of talks with McLaren, the WRC was considered his most likely destination.

« I’ve always wanted to do rallies, particularly as part of the World Rally Championship at some point in my career, » said Räikkönen. « Thanks to Red Bull for giving me the opportunity to drive the best car in the series with the Citroën C4. It’s a new challenge, but it’s very exciting. »

Rumors suggest that Räikkönen could return to F1 with Red Bull after his first season in WRC, especially since his contract with Citroën only covers 2010: “For now, we have a one-year contract, and we will see later what the future holds,” the Finn said. “I’m really looking forward to testing the car and starting the first rally.”

The boss of the Citroën team, Olivier Quesnel, stated that he was delighted by Red Bull’s increased involvement, and that the team had a very strong driver line-up with the duo of Räikkönen – Ogier alongside Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo.

« The commitment and energy of Red Bull are a perfect match in the pursuit of victory for Citroën, » stated Quesnel. « We will continue to rely on Sébastien and Dani to defend our world titles in 2010, and we will also extend our partnership with Sébastien Ogier, who has shown exceptional potential this year. »

« It is with immense joy that we welcome Kimi Räikkönen into our ranks. We are very proud that he has chosen Citroën. In addition to the confirmation of the four drivers, we hope to be able to announce other programs in the coming weeks. »

Räikkönen and Ogier will compete in 12 rounds of the WRC championship out of the 13 in the 2010 season, with only the New Zealand event not on their schedule.

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