Kalle Rovanperä won the Swedish World Rally Championship. Esapekka Lappi completed the Finnish success in third place.
Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä drove a convincing victory in the Swedish World Rally Championship. The 20-year-old Rovanperä was third in the World Rally Championship. Previous victories came in the Estonian and Greek rallies last year.
– I’m really happy. I didn’t think we could be that good here, Rovanperä said.
At the same time, Rovanperä stated that the festive mood is not at its highest right now.
– This has been a really difficult weekend for the Ukrainians. I wish them strength in such difficult times, the Finnish driver added, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Belgian Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville ranked second and praised Toyota Esapekka Lapland reached third place.
With his victory, Rovanperä rose to the top of the World Rally Championship. Even the problems of the car’s hybrid unit that appeared on the closing day did not prevent the Finn from winning.
After a break of more than a year, Lapland returned as a contract driver for the WRC team. Lapland can also be very pleased with its results, although it was not possible to reach Neuville on Sunday.
Evans drove to the snowboard and stopped
Rovanperä’s leading position was immediately consolidated in a special stage that opened on Sunday, when the Finnish challenger Elfyn Evans drove out. A Welsh driver from Toyota was driving on a snowboard, and his vehicle was damaged.
Evans suffered a setback even before the closing date when he was given a ten-second time penalty. Evans lost control of his car at the finish of Saturday’s final special stage. He slipped out in the final bend, but still managed to get to the finish of the special stage.
FINAL RESULTS
Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 2.10.44.9
Thierry Neuville Hyundai + 22.0
Esapekka Lapland Toyota + 30.6
Takamoto View Toyota + 2.19.4
Gus Greensmith Ford + 3.20.4
Oliver Solberg Hyundai + 5.39.4
Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda + 7.11.1
Ole Christian Veiby Volkswagen + 7.34.3
Jari Huttunen Ford + 8.14.2
Egon Kaur Volkswagen + 8.24.8