It is not usual for car drivers to jump to two wheels later, -although Michael Schumacher did it after his first retirement from Formula 1, for example-, but rather it is usually the opposite, for reasons of age, form physics and risks For this reason, it seems strange that as soon as he retired from the ‘great circus’, the Finnish Kimi Raikkonen moves to motorcycles.
But as you can imagine, this news that has just been confirmed has a trick, because the former Alfa Romeo Racing Team driver until 2021 is not going to wear the helmet and the fireproof overalls, but rather the “helmets” and the boss’s micro in the Kawasaki MXGP Factory motocross team for the 2022 season, a position in which he will work with former MXGP rider Antti Pyrhonen.
Those who will throw themselves into the arena -and never better said- will be the world champion of the specialty in 2015, Romain Febvre (still recovering from a broken tibia and fibula at last year’s Paris Supercross) and Brit Ben Watsonwho will ride under Raikkonen and Pyrhonen at the Kawasaki Factory.
And although you have been seeing Kimi for the last 21 years in F1, in the teams SauberMcLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Alfa Romeo, the truth is that it was until today the last world champion with Ferrariin that distant 2007, has always been a ‘free spirit’, who has flirted with rallies as soon as possible and has never denied his passion for motorcycles with knobby wheels.
“It’s no secret that Motocross has been my great passion for many years, but this team it’s not what you could call my hobby”, acknowledges ‘Iceman’ on the official website of his new competition. “But this team is not what you could call a hobby; it’s very serious, very focused and we aspire to be the best we can be.”
“Now that I have retired from racing, I will be able to spend more time on this project; not on the daily problems, but more from a strategic point of viewusing my experience of how teams work and what creates success on the world stage […]. We are very happy that Kawasaki has chosen us as a factory team, he has recognized on the page mxgp.com.
