The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Raikkonen fastest in wet practice sessions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 10, 2005

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Raikkonen fastest in wet practice sessions

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (BELGIUM): Finland's Kimi Raikkonen briefly beat the rain and was fastest in Friday's wet practice sessions for the Belgian Grand Prix, which championship leader Fernando Alonso largely ignored to spare his engine for the race.

Raikkonen needs a big win over Alonso during Sunday's race to keep a realistic chance of winning the championship.

The 24-year-old Alonso can clinch the title with three races to go and become the youngest champion if he wins and Raikkonen does not make Sunday's podium.

Raikkonen came out late in the first one-hour session and, in five laps on a momentary dry track, edged McLaren teammate Alexander Wurz and Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella.

A second practice session was washed out by torrential rain. Alonso came out for one perfunctory lap in driving rain but immediately headed back to the pits. Vitantonio Liuzzi smashed his Red Bull car but was able to walk away from the wreck.

Raikkonen lapped the 6.976-kilometer (4.334-mile) circuit in 1 minute, 48.206 seconds, 0.01 of a second faster than Wurz on a challenging track. Defending champion Michael Schumacher was also late out in his Ferrari and was eighth quickest. Alonso did not take to the track throughout the first session, part of a team strategy to spare the engine ahead of Sunday's punishing race.

``We have to be careful we don't do a lot of miles on Friday and Saturday and keep the engine safe for the race on Sunday,'' Alonso said.

India's Narian Karthikeyan finished 15th in the first session.

Thunder, lightning, fog and rain all appeared Friday morning, wetting the pine-covered hills and lush valleys through which the track is cut. Forecasters predict a 60 percent chance of rain for Sunday's race, which could be the first wet race since 2003.

Alonso has said he is not counting on clinching the championship at Spa since Raikkonen's McLaren should be faster on Formula One's longest track — a favourite among drivers. Races in Brazil, Japan and China are still to come.

Alonso has a 27-point lead over Raikkonen, and a 10-point victory Sunday — combined with the Finn finishing outside the top three — would make him uncatchable. But Raikkonen won last year's Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher is a distant third and already eliminated from the title race. — AP

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