Kimi stars on the ice in Moscow

Kimi Räikkönen was the headline act at the ‘Race of Stars’ this weekend; a unique activity staged in Moscow, Russia where drivers take to a temporary track covered entirely with ice within Moscow’s Hippodrome.

Alongside fellow 2013 Formula 1 competitor Charles Pic, Kimi competed in races using specially adapted Renault Duster and Logan cars; the all-terrain, lightweight 4x4 vehicles from the French marque.

The Race of the Stars is one of the longest-running motorsports events staged in Russia, with 23 editions to date. The concept of the race is simple; all competing drivers [selected from various motorsport disciplines in Russia and beyond] take part in qualifying before being divided into four test groups. After four 15 minute semi-finals, the grand finale takes place with a three-loop sprint around the arena. The winner of this event was then pitted against Kimi and Charles to decide the ultimate victor.

Some of the biggest names in the discipline have competed in the event, including four-times Formula 1 World champion Alain Prost, Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and Kimi’s team-mate Romain Grosjean.

Kimi already has significant experience of driving on ice and not just from his days back in Finland, having competed in the FIA World Rally Championship for two seasons with entries into the Arctic and Sweden rallies in 2010 and 2011.

Speaking after the event, Kimi said: "It was good to be back on an ice track after a while away. It made a change from Barcelona and my regular Formula 1 car! You need a very different driving style on ice; you have to be very smooth on the throttle and brakes and feed the steering in, but a small drift can also be pretty fun… I enjoyed it, particularly seeing so many fans out here."

Source: www.lotusf1team.com