Well, it was a rally just to cruise around. We’ve got position six and, obviously, some nice points. But it doesn’t change anything. I have no reason to be satisfied with my driving in this first WRC rally on tarmac this year. 

It was our very first tarmac rally with this car. There were a few things to try. Obviously, we hoped to have dry weather, while we had not tested a single mile in the rain. 

But, everything went wrong. We didn’t get it right since the beginning of the rally. There were some dark clouds coming while we started the rally, but we had to take the harder tyre while there was no data from the other options. 

First special stage was still dry, but we had a spin in the third corner. After that I struggled to find the right rhytm to my driving. Then the next stage was fully wet, puddles all over the place. Then it was just a case of slipping and sliding – like the others with wrong choice of tyres in the car. 

In the afternoon the roads were dry, but once we went wide and hit the fence. It was that heavy shunt, but enough to bend the door. We had to stop. I had to untie my belt and then try to shut the door. It was not possible to shut it properly, so, obviously, I had to keep it closed, but in every corner, it opened widely. 

It was not nice, I can tell you now. 

Then we improved on Saturday. The long stages in army area went better and better. We managed to climb a few places. But, all in all, I never had as good feeling as I had in Rally Finland for the last day. 

Just a few stages went ok. But there were so many that didn’t go that well. That’s why I cannot be satisfied with this rally. At least we finished and got P6. That’s never too bad a result. 

Obviously, there were a lot of punctures. We got our share of it. Obviously, we didn’t loose places because of it, but it was the most annoying moment, while the tyre got a puncture in the beginning of the power stage on Sunday. 

Now we have had six rallies, finished every time and got points. I feel we have advanced since last year quite nicely. Hopefully we got some good rallies more this year. The next challenge for us is to improve in France from last year’s perfomance. 

kimiraikkonen.com