Raikkonen a natural

Six-times World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb feels Kimi Raikkonen will prove to be a natural when he makes his competitive debut with Citroen this week.

The 2007 Formula One world champion has switched to rallying this year, and on Friday continues his preparation for the WRC campaign that starts in Sweden next month with a drive in the Arctic Rally.

The event, which is run over two days and includes 12 stages, will be a true test of Raikkonen's credentials as he will be up against Dani Sordo, Loeb's factory Citroen team-mate.

"It's very difficult to say straight away how he will get on," said Loeb.

"What we can look at is what he did in Rally Finland last year when he was close to the pace in the Group N class. This was very good.

"It's easy to see he can drive the car. There's no doubting he's a very good driver.

"He's a Finn, he has been brought up on slippery surfaces and I'm sure he was playing around on them for a long time.

"It's natural he will be good like the other Finnish drivers."

Raikkonen, who will drive a C4 WRC for the Citroen Junior team, is hopeful of putting on a good show.

"This rally is a very good opportunity for me to work with the team in competitive conditions and continue my learning curve with the car," said Raikkonen.

"I took part in this rally last year with [co-driver] Kaj [Lindstrom], and as the route is largely the same I think that could help us a bit."