what do Finlands Kimi Raikkonen and Americas Mike Powell have in common?
both of them are experts at the long jump. Powell, born in Pennsylvania, broke Bob Beamon’s 23-year-old long jump record at the 1991 Tokyo World Athletics Championships, leaping for 8.95 metres. The record still stands today. It’s impressive, but not quite as far as a World Rally Car can jump over the famous rollercoaster crests of Rally Finland, which launch the cars into the air like trampolines. The unofficial record is held by Finnish driver Harri Rovanpera, who managed to make his car fly for a whole 75 metres a few years ago. Beat that, Mike. But as spectacular as it looks, Kimi Raikkonen will be aiming to spend as little time as possible in the air on Rally Finland. That’s not because he’s got a fear of flying (which is just as well as he’s competing on 12 rallies scattered all over the world this year with Red Bull). Instead it’s because there are certain things that you can’t do when you are airborne in a rally car. Notably, brake and steer. When you only spend half the time w
