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Raikkonen able to continue rally

Kimi Raikkonen will continue in the Arctic Rally having been assisted back onto the road by spectators following his accident this morning

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion crashed on the event's second test, with the organisers initially reporting that Raikkonen was out of his first competitive rally in his new Citroen C4 WRC.

But Raikkonen and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom then summoned the help of spectators to return to the C4 WRC to the road and continued to the end of the test, albeit 31 minutes slower than rally leader and fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo.

Raikkonen then drove through the third stage and has now made it back to the service area in Rovaniemi, although the Red Bull driver incurred time penalties getting to stage three.

The Citroen Racing team replaced the radiator and oil cooler along with bodywork at the front and rear of the C4 WRC in the 20-minute service. Raikkonen left service seven minutes late, which is expected to add a further 1m10s of penalties to his overall total.

Lindstrom said: "We went off the road and lost some minutes in the stage and then some penalties for arriving late."

Sordo continues to lead the rally in the only other WRC entry.

"The feeling in the car is very good," said the Spaniard. "From what I remember on the recce, I like the morning stages more than the afternoon. The stages this morning are more wider and open, you can play with the car more. This afternoon you have to keep to the line all of the time, there's no other way.

"There are a couple of changes which I made to the rear suspension here in service: it was a bit too soft, now we'll see what we can do this afternoon. It's great to be back in the car and driving again, though."

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