Kalle Rovanperä won the Estonian World Rally Championship before Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak.
15:16•Updated 15:46
Kalle Rovanperä has won the Estonian World Rally Championship.
The 21-year-old Toyota driver won the rally one minute ahead of his ex-Welsh teammate Elfyn Evans. Estonian Hyundai driver took third place Ott Tänak.
Rovanperä thanked his kart driver at the finish of the rally Jonne Halttus of steady work throughout the weekend.
– It was nice. Big thanks to Jonne, the weekend was difficult. Thanks to the team that makes the car fast and durable. Thank you (Toyota CEO) For Akio Toyodait’s nice to be in this team, Rovanperä said at the finish.
To a rare club with El Matador
With their win, Rovanperä will be in rare company. The man from Jyväskylä, who also celebrated in Estonia last year, has taken six more first places in the year following his first World Rally Championship victory. Previously, only a two-time world champion has been able to do the trick Carlos Sainz.
In June 1990, Sainz won his first World Rally Championship in Greece. When he returned to Greece a year later, “El Matador” was unable to win the race, but within a year he had accumulated six more victories.
At the same time, Rovanperä wins for the first time in his career to repeat the same World Cup rally – immediately in the first possible place. And does it even need to be said that he is capable of this as the youngest driver ever?
In the WRC2 class, Suninen’s victory was lost to engine problems
Two Finns reached the podium in the WRC2 class of the rally.
Teemu Suninen the car’s engine failed in the last special test and the Finn, who was in the fight for victory, lost in the end to Andreas Mikkelsen with 25.3 seconds. Emil Lindholm was third in the class, two minutes behind class winner Mikkelsen.