Kimi Räikkönen to start a MX team?

Hanaa80
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Hanaa80
Edited Date/Time 1/25/2012 1:07pm
Couldn't believe it when I first heard about it, but now it made the news here. Apparently the team will have 2 Finnish riders in the FIM GP's: 1 rider in the MX2 and 1 rider in MX1. They'll most likely be on KTM's.

While this may be interesting only for the Finnish fans, I think it's effing awesome that a high profile sportstar wants to support our sport and is ready to invest his own money in it.

And for those who don't know who Kimi Räikkönen is: He is an ex. Formula 1 champion.

Here's the link to the article for the few who can understand our messed up language. I tried google translator, but the result was pretty bad.

Link in Finnish
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mmcmx
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mmcmx 11/19/2010 4:19am
11/19/2010 4:19am
And he rode MX as a youngster if I'm not mistaken. Good news for sure!
SwapperMX
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SwapperMX 11/19/2010 4:50am
11/19/2010 4:50am
Yeah, awesome news. I dare say that he probably has followed and enjoyed our sport for a while. Also, starting an MX team is going to be just a little cheaper than an F1 team.
Hanaa80
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Hanaa80 11/19/2010 5:02am
11/19/2010 5:02am Edited Date/Time 11/19/2010 5:02am
SwapperMX wrote:
Yeah, awesome news. I dare say that he probably has followed and enjoyed our sport for a while. Also, starting an MX team is going to...
Yeah, awesome news. I dare say that he probably has followed and enjoyed our sport for a while. Also, starting an MX team is going to be just a little cheaper than an F1 team.
I guess he likes everything with a motor on it. I've heard that he rides pretty good. When he was driving for Mclaren he made Ron Dennis mad by entering a snowmobile race using an alias James Hunt.

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ehr400
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ehr400 11/19/2010 5:03am
11/19/2010 5:03am
Good to see my fellow country men starting their own team!
mxmasta
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mxmasta 11/19/2010 6:34am
11/19/2010 6:34am
So when he has two riders the finnish team is finished? :-)
Hanaa80
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Hanaa80 11/19/2010 6:52am
11/19/2010 6:52am
mxmasta wrote:
So when he has two riders the finnish team is finished? :-)
And Finnish mechanics, so they're definitely done, err.. Finnish.
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mxmasta 11/19/2010 6:57am
11/19/2010 6:57am
Jokes aside, its really nice to have a world wide known F1 racer bringing some money and (at least finnish) attention to our sport.
Maybe even some new sponsors... who knows!
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Hammer 11/19/2010 7:10am
11/19/2010 7:10am
Great news for the MX World, but when will Kimi get back into F-1?

When he was not shaking off a hangover he could drive the wheels off a race car. But obviously he was not love by management of the teams(many in a short career) because of his openness to "enjoy life".

Good luck, and hopefully it will lead to additional interest from high profile individuals!

enuf sed,
Hammer
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LouDog 11/19/2010 7:56am
11/19/2010 7:56am
I know of a american rider for the team and he raced the Lahti SX.
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Hanaa80 11/19/2010 8:28am
11/19/2010 8:28am Edited Date/Time 11/19/2010 8:43am
Hammer wrote:
Great news for the MX World, but when will Kimi get back into F-1? When he was not shaking off a hangover he could drive the...
Great news for the MX World, but when will Kimi get back into F-1?

When he was not shaking off a hangover he could drive the wheels off a race car. But obviously he was not love by management of the teams(many in a short career) because of his openness to "enjoy life".

Good luck, and hopefully it will lead to additional interest from high profile individuals!

enuf sed,
Hammer
I don't think he parties more than the other drivers. He just doesn't care, if someone sees him.

Unfortunately I don't think he even wants to return to F1 anymore.
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Hanaa80 11/19/2010 8:33am
11/19/2010 8:33am
LouDog wrote:
I know of a american rider for the team and he raced the Lahti SX.
I'm pretty sure they'll start with Finnish riders only, but Weston would definitely be a good choice =)
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LouDog 11/19/2010 8:38am
11/19/2010 8:38am
LouDog wrote:
I know of a american rider for the team and he raced the Lahti SX.
Hanaa80 wrote:
I'm pretty sure they'll start with Finnish riders only, but Weston would definitely be a good choice =)
Ya I know they would hire a Finnish rider first I was just throwing it out. Hopefully they do more SX races next year.
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Blake 11/19/2010 9:30am
11/19/2010 9:30am
True on Kimi. He won more races after piling out of a "shady establishment" at 4 AM than when he didn't.

Yes he is a MX fan and snowmobile racer.
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Hanaa80 11/19/2010 9:30am
11/19/2010 9:30am
LouDog wrote:
Ya I know they would hire a Finnish rider first I was just throwing it out. Hopefully they do more SX races next year.
I hope so too. To me it looked like a well ran event. There were a couple of guys who arranged almost everything, so they were pretty burned out after the weekend.. Hope Weston and the other Americans enjoyed their stay and were treated well.
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Adam43 11/19/2010 9:49am
11/19/2010 9:49am
Hanaa80 wrote:
I guess he likes everything with a motor on it. I've heard that he rides pretty good. When he was driving for Mclaren he made Ron...
I guess he likes everything with a motor on it. I've heard that he rides pretty good. When he was driving for Mclaren he made Ron Dennis mad by entering a snowmobile race using an alias James Hunt.
And he won that race too!

I love Kimi, he marches to his own drummer. He's awesome. Would love to see him back in F1, but he won't take just anything. I think when Webber is done at Red Bull after next year you'll see him back.
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Hanaa80 2/3/2011 12:24pm
2/3/2011 12:24pm
They finally announced the team today. The manager will be the 7x Enduro World Champion Kari Tiainen. Here's a link to the team's web page. ICE1RACING
mxrider225 2/3/2011 12:36pm
2/3/2011 12:36pm
He makes that much money in WRC?

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Hanaa80
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Hanaa80 2/3/2011 12:43pm
2/3/2011 12:43pm
mxrider225 wrote:
He makes that much money in WRC?
I think one month's salary from last year was enough to set that up. Not the salary from Citroen, but the salary from Ferrari for not riding their car.

Apparently 4 x WRC champion Tommi Mäkinen is also involved in the team. So money or contacts should not be the issue.
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SethGator 2/3/2011 12:49pm
2/3/2011 12:49pm
Hanaa80 wrote:
I think one month's salary from last year was enough to set that up. Not the salary from Citroen, but the salary from Ferrari for not...
I think one month's salary from last year was enough to set that up. Not the salary from Citroen, but the salary from Ferrari for not riding their car.

Apparently 4 x WRC champion Tommi Mäkinen is also involved in the team. So money or contacts should not be the issue.
he was making something like 40mil per season the last couple of years with ferrari...not bad for someone who used to be a mechanic.
Rocket Launcher 2/3/2011 12:59pm
2/3/2011 12:59pm
I would say the $40mil is probably a pretty good estimate. Winning the world championship a few seasons back probably doubled that for that year. Top F1 drivers can earn more than $100mil in a season with endorsements and bonuses.

The last two years the "Iceman" has been racing WRC mostly for fun, off road racing is a passion of his. I just don't see him returning to Formula 1 any time soon, but it would be good for the sport to have him back.

He will definately bring more attention to the sport, which is always a good thing.
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Cody24 2/3/2011 1:35pm
2/3/2011 1:35pm
Thats really cool to see. Kimi is a good guy. Hope his team is successful. Now lets get Tony Stewart or someone to start one over here!
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mpy 2/3/2011 1:49pm
2/3/2011 1:49pm
Here's a cool quote from the Press Release:
'I've always wanted to drive motocross more than anything', explains Kimi when asked why. 'It was my dream, when I was a kid.'

Funny thing is that this team was started in Tommi Mäkinen's sauna (like all Finns do things) with a discussion between Raikkönen & Tiainen.
(link here in Finnish though)

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