Kalle Rovanperä interrupted and Jari-Matti Latvala explained – EPN’s expert as a mother: “There is no such bad test part” | Sport

Below you can listen to Micke Suopuro and Henri Haapamäki’s conversation about the twists and turns of the Rovaniemi SM Rally. Kalle Rovanperä’s speed convinced the duo, but the interruption due to a technical fault made ‘s expert think.

Kalle Rovanperä quickly sowed his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans in Rovaniemi SM rally. However, the two-time world champion had to stop shortly before the finish of the final special stage.

Rovanperä was satisfied with the outcome of the Tunturiralli. The driver had his Toyota’s adjustments tested for the World Rally Championship in Sweden later this month. The 23-year-old Finnish ace opens his World Cup season in a traditional winter rally.

The interruption upset Rovanperä, but did not seem to worry the driver. Toyota team manager Jari-Matti Latvala ‘s expert is puzzled by the explanation for the suspension Henri Haapamäkiwhich bundled the competition’s three talking points.

1. The reason for the interruption remained “gnawing”

In an interview with after the rally, Latvala told the reason for stopping Rovanperä.

– There was an oil leak. He had to pull over a kilometer before the finish line. He then got the hybrid turned on and got out of there. At the last service, they had tried to change a part, but there was no such part to put in the car at that moment, Latvala said.

Latvala emphasized that Rovanperä had to stop so that the engine oils would not come out. Latvala stated that there is no reason to worry for World Cup rallies.

– No need to worry. Sometimes these test cars have quite a lot of kilometers on them. There are always new parts for World Cup rallies. Age or kilometers make it more likely that there will be damage than new parts.

Haapamäki says directly that the interruption due to a technical fault “gnawed” at him. According to an experienced rally man, cars of this level should not have oil leakage problems. Even worn parts do not explain the problem.

– In my opinion, there is no way to put something like that on the line. If there is a leak in the engine’s oil circuit, there isn’t such a bad test part that would break down in its old age under tricks of this level, Haapamäki muses.

He thinks that the car may have been hit, which has caused the leak. For example, hitting a snow bank could have broken the oil cooler or something else in the engine.

– This left a small stain on a good test rally, Haapamäki estimated.

2. Convincing Rovanperä clearly ahead of Evans

Kalle Rovanperä’s pace was at a different level compared to Evans until the interruption. The Finn goes to the World Rally Championship in Sweden as a preliminary favorite. Last year, the Toyota car in Rovanperä’s hands was not quite ready for the challenges of the Swedish rally, but now the situation seems to be the opposite.

– Very important test kilometers. Towards the end, the car felt much better than earlier in the tests, Rovanperä said after the rally.

Rovanperä and his team made big changes to the car when they tested, among other things, shock absorbers, locks and the layout of the car during the rally. Through changes, a functional whole can be found.

– The fact that the car feels good in Kalle’s hand is certainly the most important thing that was sought from Rovaniemi, says Haapamäki.

Rovanperä’s Takoma gap with Evans was almost a minute before the final cut. It is more difficult to tell the difference on fast-moving roads, and in Rovaniemi you drive on really fast-moving roads. For example, with EK 10, the average speed was 149 km/h.

This fact increases the value of Rovanperä’s performance.

– The cornering speeds must be a little faster on Kalle all the time, praised Haapamäki.

Haapamäki says that Evans’ performance was disappointing. At the same time, the expert reminds that Rovanperä has been familiar with the roads of Northern Finland since his youth.

Among the WRC teams, Hyundai did not participate in the Tunturi rally. According to Haapamäki, Toyota’s test advantage is great, because almost 200 special test kilometers were driven in Rovaniemi and preparations were made for the rally with notes like for World Cup rallies.

Hyundai has tested its car in Sweden with only one test track.

– These are from a completely different planet. One and the same road is quickly learned by heart and the car is adjusted to that road. Compromises have to be made here so that it is good for the entire rally, Haapamäki opened from Rovaniemi.

3. Toyota’s new rally2 cars are competitive

Toyota also launched a rally2 class car for this season. In Rovaniemi, several drivers ordered Toyota’s new driver. Mikko Heikkilä took the first race victory in history with a Toyota rally2 car, when he won the SM1 class in Rovaniemi.

Haapamäki says that the doubts about the car’s performance that prevailed after the Monte Carlo rally are dispelled. On the high-speed roads of Rovaniemi, it became clear that the car’s three-cylinder engine has power.

– The rally served as a confirmation that the product is indeed functional. The Toyotas drove Skoda to its knees, so good development work has been done with such small test kilometers, Haapamäki paints.

Runner-up in the SM1 competition Teemu Asunmaa drove a Skoda rally2 car. The top two are experienced drivers on the roads of Northern Finland. For example, Asunmaa has run the Aittajärvi special stage that opened the rally 14 times at race pace.

– The guy already has an “ass feeling” about it. It is not easy to dislodge such drivers. For the others, the resistance was the hardest that can be found in the world at the rally2 level for these conditions, Haapamäki sums up.

You can watch a summary of all the events of the Rovaniemi SM Rally on Sunday on TV2 and Areena from 19:45.