Kovalainen tunes up

Home is where the heart is, or so they say. In that case, Heikki Kovalainen belongs on the back of a rather powerful four-stroke snowmobile!

Just ten days ahead of his Grand Prix debut at the wheel of the new Renault F1 R27, the young Finn is relaxing and training near his home town of Suomussalmi in northern Finland ahead of what promises to be a long, demanding season.

While the 25 year-old may live day to day in Oxford, and drop by unannounced several times a week at the team’s Enstone factory, his roots are firmly in the northern part of his home country – just south of the Arctic Circle.

Out in the snowy, forested countryside, as the mercury hits “15" (the Finnish leave off the ‘minus’ because it’s always below zero in these parts in the winter), the snowmobile is the vehicle of choice – and, as you can imagine, Heikki’s been riding the powerful machines since he was a small boy.

In addition to regular ‘oversteer practice’ on the ski-doo, he has been training hard on his cross-country skis – a perfect workout as he finishes off his physical preparation before the first race of the season. And of course, keeping track of the Finnish team’s progress in the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Sapporo, Japan. More at F1Technical.net