Kalle Rovanperä admired the gestures of the Italian fans last weekend. Rovanperä also opens up about his thoughts from three weeks ago at the deciding moment of the world championship in New Zealand.
Kalle Rovanperä starts on Friday in Catalonia for his first WC rally as world champion. Rovanperä secured the drivers’ championship in New Zealand three weeks ago. Between the races, Rovanperä participated in the Rallylegend event in San Marino last weekend.
Rovanperä competed Jari-Matti Latvala with old Toyota Celica cars. However, the two had fun in the show class, where times were not measured.
Rovanperä described that he had wanted to participate in the event for many years and thought it was really fun.
The new world champion also received a wonderful reception from the Italian fans.
– It was well known that Italian fans are huge. But now there was more buzz than usual. It was a great trip. Fireworks and torches at night. There, when it was smoking, it was wonderful. There is nothing like that anywhere, Rovanperä incensed.
Right before the championship was decided, it was sad
Rovanperä also returned at the request of Urheilu to recall the events of three weeks ago, when he needed to place in the top four in the last special test to secure the world championship.
The Finn left nothing to be desired, but gassed up the best time. Rovanperä has been particularly tough this year on the Power Stages that end the races and collected a lot of extra points from them.
– It was exciting and probably the most important part of my career so far. It was a short clip, but it was difficult and technical. I was able to come in full throttle, Rovanperä recalls and says that before leaving for the last special test, the feeling was good.
– It was much calmer than I expected. I thought there would be more stress and tension. I could concentrate in peace. Of course, there was more tension than usual for the last few minutes.
Rovanperä admitted that the bet that sealed the championship was not even completely clean.
– When the car started, I felt normal. I knew we could drive a good time, says Rovanperä.
– When the clip starts, the legendary flow mode comes on. Not thinking at all. Everything comes from the spine. However, it was not as clean a drive as I like to drive. There were a few difficult lines after the small cars. Didn’t quite fit in the grooves. There was understeering, which normally doesn’t happen. There were some minor mistakes. It was immediately sad when you knew you had lost a few tenths.
When Rovanperä turned the last corner and into the finish jump, the feeling had eased.
– I’m relieved that at least the victory in the rally will come, Rovanperä states.
Rovanperä has already taken 47 points from the Power Stages this season, while the division had 55. What makes him so good at the Power Stages?
– I can’t say that. There has always been some kind of extra effort and risk-taking for a short while, but there have been no mistakes either. It has always been a good download. I’ve always wanted to take the last squeeze. Even if the rally didn’t go well, it’s always good to show where you’re going in the next race, Rovanperä states.
A special situation in the special test exam
The first full-blooded asphalt race with new hybrid cars is planned in Catalonia. Rovanperä goes to the weekend to secure the team championship for Toyota with a relaxed attitude. Thursday’s special test saw an interesting moment when the rain messed up the teams’ plans.
Toyota took soft tires when others started with hard tires. In the first races, the Toyota drivers occupied the top four positions. Hyundai was in trouble and their drivers were no more than ten seconds behind in a four kilometer stretch.
– Few changes were made to the car. We got better than that. Now we are hopefully relatively close to what should be wet. However, it would seem that the conditions would be dry for the most part, Rovanperä stated about the lessons of the special test exam.
You can find live coverage of the Catalan World Rally Championship here. You can find all the most important twists and turns of the competition and the hottest video clips in the live tracking.
Updated at 10:32 am. Fixed that the race was in San Marino, not Sanremo.
‘s broadcast information from the World Rally Championship in Catalonia:
Friday 21.10.
Friday’s highlights at 21.50 TV2
Saturday 22.10.
EK 11 (24.18 km) at 11:30 TV2
EK 14 (24.18 km) at 17:00 TV2
Saturday highlights at 21:20 TV2
Sunday 23.10.
EK 17 (15.90 km) at 09.00 Areena (Uusinta TV2 at 10:00 a.m.)
Rally highlights & EK 19 Power Stage (15.90 km) at 13.00 TV2
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