After his first Next Gen practice run on Thursday, Kimi Raikkonen claims he feels more ready for his NASCAR Cup Series start with Trackhouse Racing at Watkins Glen the next weekend.
As part of its Select Driver Orientation programme at Virginia International Raceway, NASCAR gave Raikkonen and other series rookie Mike Rockenfeller, who will compete for Spire Motorsports in the race, the opportunity to race an Action Express-operated Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 test car.
The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion will compete for Trackhouse alongside Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez in the race track event at Watkins Glen on August 21. The Finn’s participation is a part of layout Trackhouse’s Project 91 effort, which aims to broaden NASCAR’s appeal by bringing skilled drivers from other motor sport to the Cup Series.
“I don’t have anything to compare [the car with] but I believe it was excellent to get some laps, even if it’s not exactly the same vehicle that we’re going to race,” Raikkonen stated following the test.
“It was very beneficial just to put laps and have some fun, to know what the car is somewhat doing, do longer runs to find out so I’m sure it’ll be easier to go into practice come the race [weekend].
“Obviously I have a little experience with the Cup car from 2011. This car is a new generation car, it’s a lot nicer, I guess more or less what I expected. I tried the simulator so I had some idea, it’s OK, obviously the same things happen to it like a normal car, so when the tires get hot you’re sliding more.
“So far it’s been good.”
Raikkonen will compete in his first motorsport ractte following his retirement from Formula One last December, when he made his last performance for Alfa Romeo at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Despite NASCAR’s rigorous regulations on racetrack testing, Raikkonen has also rehearsed pit stops with his squad to be as ready as possible.
He described the test run as being 50 circuits or something. Without them and the simulator, I would undoubtedly have to compete in qualifying after 20 minutes of practise, which would be considerably more difficult.
“At least we prepared as well as we could, so thanks to NASCAR letting us to have those laps, we did the best that we could and most that we can, so we’ll see what we get. Obviously it’s a new track for me, so I need to learn it, so we’ll see what we have.”
During his hiatus from Formula One, Raikkonen competed in one Truck Series race and one Xfinity Series beginning for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2011. He feels the testing has been positive thus far.
“The team has done a great job, really nice people all around, it’s been fun to be in the car,” he added.
“I haven’t driven any race car since the last F1 race, so it was fun and hopefully we can get a somewhat good result in the race.”
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Kimi Raikkonen, Formula 1, Alfa Romeo, Trackhouse Racing, Grand Prix, IndyCar, Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, XFinity