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KoolMonkey

I Guess That'S Finally It Then... Kimi Gone For Good :(

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The thread ends when we stop posting.

We stop posting when the thread ends.

So why fight it?

Here's a ****ty translation of some portions of an article for all of you to enjoy. After all, if Kimi's not going to be in F1 in 2011, well, how about he goes to the pinnacle of American motorsport in 2012?

The full text is here (albeit in German). If anyone wants to amend my loose translation, please do.

http://www.motorsport-total.com/usracing/news/2010/09/Raeikkoenen_ab_2012_in_der_NASCAR_10091401.html

Finally, though, a Kimi rumor that interests me. ;)

It does make sense, though. Kimi to NASCAR rumors have gone on for a while (since 2009), and the Red Bull link does exist. Kasey Kahne is on loan to Red Bull for 2011 before he gets called back to Hendrick to replace Mark Martin; that leaves an open seat, and Red Bull don't have a driver development program in the U.S. to draft a younger replacement (their only young driver, Cole Whitt, is fantastically gifted, but is far too low on the ladder to be a realistic contender for the seat in 2012). Red Bull have always been open to interesting drivers in NASCAR, too, having fielded Scott Speed and Mattias Ekström despite their inexperience. The comments from Speed, Vickers, Kahne, and Kimi himself do suggest something is being discussed.

The article, of course, is a bit dated, and I haven't heard much from U.S. American news sites about it (not saying they're more credible, but there are a lot more journalists in the U.S. covering NASCAR, obviously, so you'd think a rumor of this magnitude would get some coverage if it were true).

If I had to guess, I'd imagine Red Bull have offered Kimi to do WRC in 2011, and then move to NASCAR in 2012. Now he's just seeing if he can get a crack at F1, and if he can't, perhaps he'll take Red Bull's program.

GREAT info, or rumour should I say. I can imagine seeing Kimi in Nascar though....

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GREAT info, or rumour should I say. I can imagine seeing Kimi in Nascar though....

The rumors about Raikkonen never end. Sometimes though I feel that the media is doing every bit to keep Kimi away from F1 for some odd reason. Sometimes you hear rumors about WRC and how he enjoys it there, sometimes its NASCAR. All this makes him look non serious about F1.

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The rumors about Raikkonen never end. Sometimes though I feel that the media is doing every bit to keep Kimi away from F1 for some odd reason. Sometimes you hear rumors about WRC and how he enjoys it there, sometimes its NASCAR. All this makes him look non serious about F1.

I don't think the media are inventing things to make Kimi look bad; that's too paranoid for me. I genuinely think Kimi is looking at options; he desires to return to F1, but there aren't any good rides for him. Red Bull want him to do WRC for another year and then NASCAR; Kimi's also considering that in the event an F1 deal can't come around. I think Kimi would prefer to do WRC next year, and then F1, so perhaps the hold-up is that his future plans aren't entirely in-line with Red Bull's; he doesn't want to commit to NASCAR yet because it's hard to judge what F1 seats might open for him in 2012. I think the fact he hasn't committed to either WRC or NASCAR make him look serious about F1. I doubt the journalists are out to get him; the NASCAR talks are, to the extent of my knowledge, legitimate.

Yep, WRC and F1 are too hard for him, he should try something easier, more suited to his abilities.

:lol:

NASCAR's not going to be easier for him. Every single open-wheel driver that has gone to NASCAR in recent years has had it rough. It's not a bunch of rednecks driving in circles. Those cars are ****ing pigs to drive. Ask Michael Schumacher about how bad NASCAR drivers are; Carl Edwards showed him up in the Race of Champions after Michael declared he "wouldn't lose to a driver with a duck on his suit." Ask any RoC competitor from 2002 about how bad NASCAR drivers are; Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon teamed with MotoGP rider Colin Edwards to win the Nation's Cup (Johnson was their rally driver). Ask Montoya how bad NASCAR drivers are; it took him three years to show any pace, and now he's struggling to keep up for all 500 miles, often running into trouble and ruining his day. Ask Speed, Franchitti, Allmendinger, Ekström, Villeneuve, Piquet, etc. None are super Kimi-caliber drivers, but they are all very talented, and none of them have achieved anything in stock cars. Ask Frank Williams, he wanted to sign Jeff Gordon after his demonstration run in Montoya's car. Ask Bernie Ecclestone, he would have paid Gordon $15,000,000/year in addition to his Williams salary; guys running in the back don't have much commercial value, so Ecclestone obviously expected something out of Gordon. Ask Jackie Stewart; in the 90s, he, too, tried to sign Gordon. Ask Steve Hallam, a 27-year-veteran of F1 engineering and management (he was with McLaren), who transitioned to NASCAR as the lead engineer of Michael Waltrip's team; he's called it the greatest engineering challenge he's had, working with such feisty cars that really don't handle well. Ask Mika Salo and Jarno Trulli, who both tested in NASCAR last year, and didn't impress anyone enough to land rides in the sport. Ask Sebastian Vettel, a big NASCAR supporter (probably because he could go there and bounce off the walls a bit without ending his day ;)).

I'll give Kimi a s***-load of respect if he takes on the challenge, because it's a huge one, and can really tarnish one's reputation (much like Bourdais did when he went the other way to Europe). It's so foreign from F1 and WRC that even on the road courses, the F1 guys don't have much of an advantage. I hope he's at least considering it if he can't get an F1 drive; he has raw ability, and I'm sure he'd be unafraid to mix it up. However, it's a big time commitment to learn the sport, and the younger he is when he goes, the more chance he has of succeeding; if he just stays for a year or two, he'll never accomplish much.

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I can't see why Kimi would want to do NASCAR, other to get more money of course. He effectively left F1 for Rallying (he probably had lots of offers from different teams but refused them as he only wanted a "winning" car) and has since said he's really enjoying the WRC (despite being forced to dress up as a Roman emperor at one particular event). I see his goal as wishing to stay in the WRC and possibly compete for the championship. He needs to stay there if he wants to improve anyway. And even if he doesn't improve and Citroen junior (or whoever he ends up at) get fed up of having to fix his cars, there's plenty other outfits in the WRC who'd snap him up in an instant, like Monster for example.

He's a big name and Monster seem to be keen to get the two big names in Block and Raikkonen. They'll sell a lot of merchandise, but not secure a lot of points...

The WRC's a good place to be at the moment with the boost in manufacturer entrants that will most likely continue over the next few years. Saab, Volkswagen and another German manufacturer are reportedly looking at entering in the next few years. I hope he does stay in the WRC, it's a good news story for that series in a time when they desperately need good news stories. I can't see any point as to why Kimi would want to do NASCAR at the risk of tarnishing his reputation when he generally seems to be having fun and doing something he clearly enjoys in the WRC.

If Kimi didn't enjoy the life in the F1 paddock, I can't see that he'd take to the NASCAR culture either. It strikes me as a completely different environment, a completely different culture and view to going racing and not in anyway more relaxed or whatever. That's just my view. I'll probably get flamed for saying that, but whatever.

Hey! Page 12! Looks like I'm on someone's ignore list. Oh well.

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To be honest, I, too, cannot see Kimi in NASCAR. They race 40 weeks of the year, test on another, and drivers often run the lower series on off-weekends (as Kimi likely would have to in order to get some more experience). I just don't see Kimi completely willing to devote so many weeks of the year away from his home to do a sport he won't be successful at initially. Could I see him wanting to do Daytona? Of course. But I don't see a full season commitment from him. It is more relaxed than F1 in terms of fitness and the race weekend itself (Montoya and Speed have both said they have a lot more fun in the stock cars than in F1), but at the same time, it's also one of the longest seasons in sports. Unless Kimi likes fried chicken, cocaine, and "friendly" women, NASCAR offers him little. ;)

There's no doubt in my mind that Kimi is more committed than he gets credit for, of course, and there's no doubt in my mind he has a lot of ability. However, I'm just not sure he'd want to be so committed to something that wasn't F1, where he'd be odd-man-out in the paddock, where he'd have major media commitments, and where fan relations are a huge factor (I'm not saying Kimi's a jerk by any means, but, the fans get a lot more time with the drivers face-to-face than they do in F1, and it's a big adjustment, and a big time consumer. If he doesn't spend time with the fans, he'll end up a very hated man in the world of NASCAR).

I think it would be great to see Kimi go the stock car path, but I think he may try to take a different path with Red Bull (i.e. stay in WRC and run a road course race, or Daytona, or some other one-off).

And now I'm on my own ignore list. ;)

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and where fan relations are a huge factor (I'm not saying Kimi's a jerk by any means, but, the fans get a lot more time with the drivers face-to-face than they do in F1, and it's a big adjustment, and a big time consumer. If he doesn't spend time with the fans, he'll end up a very hated man in the world of NASCAR).

That's one thing that I think certainly needs to change in F1. This is off topic, but this Kimi topic has gone off topic so many times already...

NASCAR and BTCC are at the top of the pile in terms of fan friendliness. MotoGP and WRC probably fit somewhere behind. You only have to look at the success at NASCAR and BTCC to realise that fan friendliness is important. Okay, I know it's not every reason why NASCAR and BTCC are so popular in their respective countries, but I believe that Formula One could do a lot to come across as fan friendly, such as getting rid of the bizarre "golden ticket" situation where you either have to perform an embarrasing act or pay with an arm or a leg to get one.

F1 is most likely second behind football in terms of popularity with kids in this country, but certainly things could be done to improve. You only have to look at the number of families who attend a BTCC round to realise where F1 is going wrong.

And if F1 drivers don't like signing autographs, well, they should find a different race series.

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Next step in Kimi's career: Kimi on the side of the road wearing a "WILL HAVE SEX 4 BOOZE" sign

Oh. So he's going to be a NASCAR fan rather than a driver?

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Next step in Kimi's career: Kimi on the side of the road wearing a "WILL HAVE SEX 4 BOOZE" sign

LOL

would love to see raikkonnen back in F1 in a competitive car - lets face it, he hardly did any single seater driving before he got into F1 and was still amazing..i think he could get back in an F1 car anytime and be v fast v quick...

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LOL

would love to see raikkonnen back in F1 in a competitive car - lets face it, he hardly did any single seater driving before he got into F1 and was still amazing..i think he could get back in an F1 car anytime and be v fast v quick...

You're not alone in that feeling. But it appears F1 really is a done deal for Kimi now. Renault was probably the best chance unless he had signed something in secret pending a driver retiring ie. Webber.

Seeing the news about the Russian GP, I'd say that would be Petrov in a better standing. I wouldn't mind Renault signing Heidfeld, but I think they honestly need the money more than they are letting on. Thus is Petrov can come up with the cash, the seat is his.

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You're not alone in that feeling. But it appears F1 really is a done deal for Kimi now. Renault was probably the best chance unless he had signed something in secret pending a driver retiring ie. Webber.

Seeing the news about the Russian GP, I'd say that would be Petrov in a better standing. I wouldn't mind Renault signing Heidfeld, but I think they honestly need the money more than they are letting on. Thus is Petrov can come up with the cash, the seat is his.

Well, I don't think he helped his chances by saying "I can assure you that I am 100 per cent sure that I will not drive for Renault next season"...

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Well, I don't think he helped his chances by saying "I can assure you that I am 100 per cent sure that I will not drive for Renault next season"...

Phew...so you think there's still a chance we'll see him at Renault next year...OMG I'm so happy to hear that his chances are still better than average of seeing that happen.

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Posting about Kimi is waaaaaaay more fun on my Samsung Fascinate mobile cellular telecommunicational device. I can now express my evident concerns for Kimi, as well as my bias and ignorance, on two devices.

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Posting about Kimi is waaaaaaay more fun on my Samsung Fascinate mobile cellular telecommunicational device. I can now express my evident concerns for Kimi, as well as my bias and ignorance, on two devices.

I've heard about the Fascinate as I have a Wave myself. Still hoping someone will port Android to the Wave, but I'm not counting on it.

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Phew...so you think there's still a chance we'll see him at Renault next year...OMG I'm so happy to hear that his chances are still better than average of seeing that happen.

That's nothing, Mr. Monkey thinks he will drive the prospective world champion, Webber into retirement and take his place in the best car on the grid. I'll eat my hat, coat and the rest of my wardrobe if that happens.

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That's nothing, Mr. Monkey thinks he will drive the prospective world champion, Webber into retirement and take his place in the best car on the grid. I'll eat my hat, coat and the rest of my wardrobe if that happens.

Webber's retirement has nothing to do with Kimi, rather even Hamilton made a comment at the beginning of the year about it. Thus if he did retire, someones going to have to replace him. I'm not holding out hope for your information, rather I'd be happy if something happened, but accept that by all accounts Kimi's time in F1 has concluded.

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That's nothing, Mr. Monkey thinks he will drive the prospective world champion, Webber into retirement and take his place in the best car on the grid. I'll eat my hat, coat and the rest of my wardrobe if that happens.

Thats exactly what he did to Schumacher, drove him into retirement. mf_tongue.gif So who in the world is Webber? What did you eat the first time around?

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Thats exactly what he did to Schumacher, drove him into retirement. mf_tongue.gif So who in the world is Webber? What did you eat the first time around?

I think you need to check your facts on that one mate....

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I think you need to check your facts on that one mate....

Prove me wrong. naughty.gif Schumacher would never have returned if it was purely his decision.

Just for your reference:

He knew MUCH BEFORE this announcement about Raikkonen being his replacement. So its clear.

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Sure, everyone's entitled to their fantasies. I'm not the guy to take that away from you.

Just don't get fantasy mixed up with reality though. ;)

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Sure, everyone's entitled to their fantasies. I'm not the guy to take that away from you.

Just don't get fantasy mixed up with reality though. ;)

Awwwwwwww you big meanie.....now what do I have to live for?

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Sure, everyone's entitled to their fantasies. I'm not the guy to take that away from you.

Just don't get fantasy mixed up with reality though. ;)

Lol. No that one was for Cavallino only

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