Fresh from an impressive rally debut on the Arctic Lapland Rally last month, Ferrari F1 star Kimi Raikkonen will continue his exploits on the snow in ten days time, this time on the Vaakuna Rally in Finland, and once again the Finn will be behind the wheel of a Grande Punto Abarth S2000.

It is just weeks since the Finn made his rally debut on the Arctic Lapland Rally. For Raikkonen, who was seated alongside experienced co-driver Kaj Lindström, it was a composed and consistent performance in his first-ever rally which saw him finish in 13th position overall and the first Super 2000 car home. Despite minimal experience of the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 prior to the event, the 2007 F1 World Champion made no mistakes over the twelve stages of the snow covered event, and progressively improved his position over the two days. Completing the first stage in 16th position, he ended the first day in the same position, having set fourth-fastest time on the short final stage of the day. He continued to make solid progress throughout leg 2, steadily climbing the leaderboard, including another fourth position on the ninth stage.

The Vaakuna Rally, like the Arctic Lapland Rally, is a round of the Finnish Rally Championship, and this year's edition will be held on 20-21 February in Mikkeli. The rally will kick off within days of Raikkonen returning from pre-season testing with Scuderia Ferrari at the Sakir circuit in Bahrain. The marathon eight test day session, which will see Raikkonen behind the wheel of the new F60 on-and-off until 17 February, got underway on Tuesday morning with his team mate Felipe Massa assuming driving duties. Today's testing time however was lost due to sandstorms preventing the cars taking to the track.

Raikkonen, whose brother is a rally driver, recently bought the Super 2000 category Grande Punto Abarth, and this week his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom told the Finnish media that the cost of the car was too high to use it for just one event and they were hopeful that a selected programme of rallies could be undertaken. For this second rally appearance, Raikkonen has again had to seek permission from Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali, although it is believed that they see the rally fitting into his pre-season training programme.