NASCAR: Kimi’s level of preparation impressed the whole team

Kimi Raikkonen’s preparations for the NASCAR race are in full swing and today he has already started testing on the Virginia International Raceway road type in Virginia.

Justin Marks, co-owner of the Trackhouse Racing team, which persuaded the 2007 World Champion to compete in at least one leg of the series, shared his first impressions of working with the famed Finnish racer.

“We’ve put together a pretty comprehensive program for him and I think he can join the training at Watkins Glen as soon as they start. At this point, Kimi should already be getting used to it normally — the task is set up this way,” Marx noted.

It was he who initiated Project 91 – under this number, the third car of the team at different stages of the championship will be driven by various stars of world motor sport, and Kimi agreed to become the first participant in this project.

The car Räikkönen drives today is no different from the technology NASCAR teams use in racing, and the tests are conducted in accordance with the series’ regulations.

“Kimi is extremely focused, which is really impressive,” Marks continued. – First of all, he has to get used to the car, and in addition, understand the rules of NASCAR, master all the procedures, understand how the race goes.

He needs to get an idea of ​​how to get the most out of practice, how to keep the tires working properly during qualifying and how to run the race from start to finish without penalties. It is also important to understand how to operate during pit stops, yellow flags, the safety car and so on, so that none of this is a problem. And then you can just run.

To be honest I think adapting to the car and showing the speed he is capable of will be the easiest for him as his level of professionalism has impressed everyone here. I am optimistic and my expectations are high.

Kimi asked such questions about pit stops and race tactics on tracks that it was immediately clear that he had done a lot of prep work and was well prepared. This doesn’t surprise me, though, because that’s why he’s been successful in Formula 1 for so long.

I think he does a great job with speed, but the difficulties may be related to the specifics of NASCAR racing, rules, etc. That’s why we created a kind of visual aid especially for Kimi, which shows the entrance to the pit lane, the location of the boxes, road markings, restrictive cones and other things.

Learning all this and avoiding mistakes is the hardest part because if you miss your team’s pits, pit too early, go too fast or start badly at the start, all the work will be lost due to penalties. Understanding all this is not easy, so we try to pay maximum attention to it. But I think Kimi can handle anything quickly.

Source: F1 News

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