The World Rally Championship in Sweden will be held from 15th to 18th. February. follows the events of the World Cup rally moment by moment in the application and at EPN.fi/eruhili.
When the Rally1 car is launched from the starting line, you can even push the muzzle into the project. Or mumble a snowball. This is probably what the German shepherd Gucci thinks, which is clearly more fascinated by snow games than a rally car, even though it has its own master at the wheel, Kalle Rovanperä.
The essence of a pet on the test track is a slunk, and the same can be said of Rovanperä, who is driving the test day in central Finland in preparation for the Swedish World Rally Championship. Rovanperä is returning to real action at the World Cup level for the first time after he announced that he would only ride a partial World Cup season this year.
The reigning world champion himself is curious to see if his own experiences in Sweden differ from those of previous seasons.
– I can’t say yet. You have to see what kind of feelings arise closer to the competition. It’s a pretty relaxed mood now. I get to drive my own race and try for the maximum result without the greater pressure, when I don’t have to bring points to my series. Yes, there should be a more relaxed feeling, Rovanperä tells Urheilu.
New tunings were tried in the test
The Toyota team’s preparation for the Swedish competition is exceptionally strong, at least on a theoretical level, because on the weekend before the test, Rovanperä and karttur Jonne Halttunen competed in the Tunturiralli, which, with its fast sections and long curves, resembled the special stages of the Swedish rally run around Umeå.
Although Rovanperä’s race at the Arctic Circle ended with a technical failure and an interruption shortly before the finish line of the last special stage, the Finn’s speed was his team mate to Elfyn Evans I see the fury. On the test day, something new is still being tried in the car, and photography is not allowed in the immediate vicinity of the service area.
– Let’s hope we are ready. Yes, the car has been improved since last year, at least for my own feeling. In the race, however, you will only see how fast the others are. But it’s clear that since we’re not plowing the road, we’re going to drive from good investments.
The role of the plow driver for other drivers
In the previous two years, as part of Rovanperä in Sweden, he has played the role of pioneer on the opening day of the competition, even though he has not led the World Series at that stage. In the 2022 season, Rovanperä was fourth in the opening race of Monte Carlo, but none of the top three: Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Craig Breen didn’t start in Sweden then.
Last year, Rovanperä was second in Monte Carlo, ahead of Ogier, who did not come to Sweden. In the second season, Rovanperä managed to win in Umeå despite his plowing role, but last year the bumpy road surface took its toll and Rovanperä finished fourth. This time, the dusting of loose snow with special tests will be left on the shoulders of the regular drivers of the World Series.
– I bet the feeling will be different now. Hopefully we will get to a good starting point and the weather will be such that it would help us when we are a little further back. Yes, it’s certainly nice to go from there to feed what you want. I hope the pace is okay.
Does Rovanperä do “neuvillet?â€?
The points calculation system of the World Series, which was changed for this season, sparked a lot of discussion at the beginning of the season. The drivers and racing fans were especially confused by the fact that the winner of the race no longer inevitably wins the biggest points pot.
In the opening race of Monte Carlo Thierry Neuville however, managed to capture the race victory as well as the maximum points after leading the race on Saturday night, after being the fastest on Sunday and after winning the Power Stage special test.
Kalle Rovanperä, what kind of fire would it be to make “negotiate†?
– If we were in such a good situation that we were chasing a win, then of course we would try to bring the team maximum points with the series in mind. This year we are trying to help the team and that’s where all the points go home.
Future plans open
Rovanperä’s future plans, both in the short and long term, have been the subject of constant speculation in recent months. This season, in addition to rallying and drifting, his repertoire includes, for example, a 24-hour endurance race in Japan as well as competitions in the international Porsche Cup.
Next year, he plans to return to the World Rally Championship full-time, but there are no plans for the length of his rally career yet.
– I don’t have any more detailed plans for the long term. Next year, hopefully, we will be able to drive again for the championship, when we drive a full season. Let’s see what kind of feelings the sequel evokes.
The gap year from the World Series also raised speculations about the continuation of military service, which Rovanperä had time to start in the fall of 2019.
– The army, of course, is mandatory, but luckily I still have time to use it until I’m thirty. Yes, it is planned to be removed from the bottom at some point.
I had to go to Finland
Along the central Finnish forest road, French rally fans also admire the world champion’s progress Stefan Traxx and Matt Gdaud. They and their friends have arrived from Southern France for three days to follow Toyota’s test track. The winter test experience is their first.
– We have also been to watch tests in, for example, Portugal, England and Sardinia. Here you can see not only the rally, you can be with your friends and also get to know different countries. There is ice, snow, a fast road and a world champion driving here, Stefan Traxx enumerates.
– For us, Finland is the core location of the rally. I had to come here. Here you can see from the side of the road how the car skids and flips at high speed. It feels really good, Traxx enthuses.
French fans also say that they are looking forward to having a sauna at their accommodation and then rolling around in the snow. Even the locals do that, they say.
Below you can listen to Micke Suopuro’s and Henri Haapamää’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.