Kalle Rovanperä spoke emotionally about his difficulties – team boss Jari-Matti Latvala admits to EPN that the spark didn’t glow: “Now that’s it”

Kalle Rovanperä dominated the Rally World Series last season, but this year the victories have eluded the Finnish youth. In Portugal, he finally got his winnings account opened.

Kalle Rovanperä drove from victory to victory last season, but this season the reigning rally world champion only managed to take the first place in the fifth race. The 22-year-old Finnish driver admitted in an interview after the rally in Portugal that it has been difficult for him.

Toyota team manager Jari-Matti Latvala assured Urheilu that Rovanperä has been himself. However, not everything has been right.

– The spark hasn’t glowed as well. The passion for winning has been gone, Latvala said.

Latvala believes that Rovanperä has suffered from a little fatigue after last season and that last click to win has been missing. However, there was a change in the previous rally in Croatia.

Rovanperä was left fourth in the race, and it hurt the Finnish driver so much that even outsiders noticed it.

– I felt that now that’s it. Now that hunger to win is starting to exist again, Latvala said.

– And when we came here, I saw in Kalle that the feeling was completely different. The desire to win had grown and he was ready for the victory.

Rovanperä himself also gave extraordinary, emotional comments at the finish line of the World Rally Championship in Portugal after his victory.

– I want to say a big thank you to my friend To Artu. I’ve had a bit of a hard time since the turn of the year. He has supported me a lot and encouraged me to compete and achieve good results, Rovanperä thanked his friend at the finish line.

Read also: The overwhelming Kalle Rovanperä opened up exceptionally in the goal – emotionally thanked his friend Arttu: “It’s been a little difficult for me”

“Certainly victory liberates”

Before the Rally of Portugal was discussed in the media and in the rally discussion (you will switch to another service)why the youngest World Rally Champion of all time is no longer winning and whether his performances are good enough.

The reflection is interesting to the extent that Rovanperä has steadily scored points. He was second in Monte Carlo and then fourth in Sweden, Mexico and Croatia. Latvalakin reminded that Rovanperä has not been bad since the beginning of the season.

– A certain type of attack mode, which was seen last season, has not been there this year.

According to Latvala, Rovanperä’s results have been affected by many small things, such as a bad starting point and poorer motivation. Now, when Toyota has made the car work better, all the pieces fall into place.

– Kalle has definitely come back, Latvala mused.

– The victory is certainly liberating, because more than half a year has passed since the previous victory.

According to Latvala, Toyota has had problems with the car’s rear end grip, especially when driving in more slippery gravel races. In Portugal, both Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta praised the car, and it bodes well for the rest of the season. The next World Series will be held in Italy in two and a half weeks.

– Sardinia was a really difficult race for us last year, because the performance of the car was not good. Now I believe it should be. We have gotten on the right track also in this type of gravel races, where we go in slightly more slippery conditions, Latvala assured.