Kimi Raikkonen buoyed by WRC rally debut for Citroen

[Blue_Tires]

Former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was encouraged by his World Rally Championship debut for Citroen despite finishing 30th in Sweden.

The Finn recovered from hitting a snow bank on stage six to finish 37 minutes off winner Mikko Hirvonen.

Raikkonen, 30, said: "It was a really encouraging event, which allowed me to learn so much."

Ford's Hirvonen was 42.3 seconds ahead of Raikkonen's team-mate Sebastien Loeb while Jari-Matti Latvala was third.

Citroen boss Olivier Quesnel was quick to praise Raikkonen's efforts after a difficult weekend.

"We cannot ask too much of Kimi at this stage," he said.

"Sweden I think is the most difficult rally to start with, and everybody is looking at him and waiting for - I don't know what - but he couldn't give more than he has.

"Kimi did not do a bad job here. He told me he made too many mistakes but it's obvious he has to make mistakes - he's learning."

Raikkonen set several top 10 stage times, including a sixth-fastest time on Saturday, meaning he would have comfortably scored points had he not lost 26 minutes when he hit the bank on Friday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8516123.stm