Crash ends Raikkonen's WRC debut

Kimi Raikkonen has competed in three non-championship rallies this year

Kimi Raikkonen's debut in the World Rally Championship came to an end after the former Formula 1 champion crashed out of stage 19 of the Rally Finland.

The Finn was 15th overall when he rolled his Abarth Grande Punto off the road on Saturday's final stage.

He and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom were unhurt, although they narrowly missed the car of Mads Ostberg who had gone off at the same point moments earlier.

The damage to Raikkonen's car prevented the Ferrari driver returning on Sunday.

Raikkonen has appeared in three non-championship rallies this season, and a four-week break between the Hungarian Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix in Valencia on 21 August has allowed him to step up his involvement.

In a disappointing F1 season, Raikkonen has won just 10 points in the drivers' championship and 54 behind leader Jenson Button.

But his speed in the second-tier Super 2000 machine impressed as he climbed up to third in the category before his error ended his race.

Raikkonen's compatriot Mikko Hirvonen secured a victory for the home fans coming home 25 seconds ahead of title rival Sebastian Loeb.

World champion Loeb, who lost more than 10 seconds after damaging his rear tyre in a pothole on a hairpin on stage 15, now trails Hirvonen by three points in the overall standings.

Raikkonen was not the only F1 driver at the Finland Rally with Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel watching from the sidelines.

"I've plenty to do in F1, but who know maybe one day I will compete in the WRC - I wouldn't mind doing some drives in the future," Vettel told the World Rally Championship website.

Drifting in the Philippines

Early 2004, David M. Feliciano, or DMF as he is more commonly known as, decided that it was time to bring Drifting into the limelight of Philippine Motorsports. After 25 years of being involved in Slalom, Rally, Rally Cross and Autocross Racing, David (DMF) decided that it would be his legacy to bring Drifting to the Philippines. It was a brave but natural step for the once 13-year old boy who was already drifting in the zigzag roads of his hometown in Antipolo, even before it became a sport.

Realizing that his driving style was actually the motorsport craze in Japan, he then set-up a couple of AE86 for drifting and proceeded to teach his friends and fellow enthusiasts the basic skills needed to learn the sport and put them together to form the DMF DRIFT TEAM…they were composed of the pioneer drifters in the country that initially did demos to introduce the sport to spectators. David then transformed DMF Motorsports into what is now known as DMF DRIFT. It is an organization that would help even more in paving the way for new drifters and drivers interested in drifting.

DMF DRIFT is composed of 2 parts, the DMF DRIFT GARAGE, the first of its kind…a garage and shop in one that caters and specializes in drift cars, drift car set-ups and drift parts and the other one is the DMF DRIFT SCHOOL. It is the first and only drift school to date that is dedicated to teaching the basic skills needed in drifting to those who want to learn. DMF DRIFT ushered in a new set of highly-skilled drifters, and there are more to come.

David then used his resources and network of people over his years in the industry to get his dream, his legacy, up and running. DMF then thought of organizing Drift Events in the country. By the end of 2005, David put up (along with partners) Burnt Rubber Productions…a company that would focus on producing Drift themed Events. Today, Burnt Rubber has produced the successful Counter-Steer event with K-Lite 103.5, and the Lateral Drift Championship (Pro) Series which has been running since 2006 and the Amateur Drift Series that started early 2009.

Indeed, it can be said that DMF made his dream, his legacy come true. David M. Feliciano brought Drifting to the Philippines and it hit hard. It was without a doubt, a resounding success.