Mini Cooper WRC launched!

Fantastic to see Mini Cooper back in the World Rally Championship.     I'll be following their progress closely.     The Prodrive effort features two solid drivers in Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke

Mystery man to NASCAR?

Kimi Raikkonen marches to his own engine map, no matter how far off tune it may be from what most expect and where those who appreciate his innate skill prefer.

I was alerted to this report in Autoweek by a good friend and often sparring partner in the business of comprehending the sensationally talented yet mysterious Finn.   Proven accurate it would be the latest in a series of puzzling turns in a career which has seen more chicanes than Hermann Tilke's dreamscape. 

Take a look at this feature from Motors TV WRC coverage from Portugal (make sure to catch the clip's closing flyby . . . Whoa!):

Kimi in Portugal

Raikkonen struggled with consistent pace in last year's WRC campaign.    He was quick but crashed a lot, sometimes heavily.    In the two events he's competed this year, he's demonstrated remarkable maturity and appears poised to exploit his driving skill to the fullest.

I submit that it would be a shame to see him shift focus to another very different form of motor sport at a time when he seems to be getting a handle on the lessons of the prior 14 months.