Sport’s expert Miikka Anttila believes that Kalle Rovanperä may benefit from his starting position in the Swedish World Rally Championship. Rovanperä will be the first to start on the route on Friday.
The Swedish World Rally Championship will start on Friday morning. Toyota Kalle Rovanperä is one of the winners’ favorites, even though it will be the first on the route on Friday. Also a teammate Esapekka Lapin the return to the wheel of the WRC car will be followed with interest.
1. How does the starting point first affect Kalle Rovanperä?
– If the roads freeze, I see Kalle’s starting point as good. Traditionally, the so-called the role of the cleaner is bad because the first to leave will have to clean you if there is loose snow. But if there is a good layer of ice, then the first to leave gets a good grip when they get to brake the studs. It seems that a lucky starting point issue could have happened in Rovanpera, an expert in Sports Miikka Anttila estimates.
2. How else is the Swedish World Rally Championship suitable for Rovanpera?
– I have no doubt at all that it would not suit Rovanpera. Now this is a new rally, because the center of the rally has changed to Umeå. The special exams are new to everyone. Already last season, Kalle showed that he can be immediately competitive when it comes to all the new roads. Now no one has the advantage that the roads are already familiar.
3. Who would you raise Rovanperä to be your toughest opponent?
– Nostan There today one of Kalle’s toughest challengers. Today, like Rovanperä, you enjoy such fast roads. If the times of shakedown say nothing, then Hyundai has shown that they have the competitiveness, Anttila thinks.
4. What do we dare to expect from Esapekka Lapland?
– I don’t expect Lapland to be at the very top of the race, even though his starting point is good when he starts in the ninth or tenth car. On the other hand, Esapekka gives a tie in the test kilometers of the Rally1 car, but I think he is still fighting for the podium.
5. The center of the rally is now in Umeå, how does the race differ from the Swedish rally of previous years?
– Saving tires and durability have often been key issues. But now the conditions are so good that the tires do not wear out in the same way as when the rally was run in the Karlstad and Torsby area. The conditions are good and there is a lot of snow. Here it is possible to drive the traditional Finnish winter rally aggressively and take advantage of high benches, Anttila describes.