The Finn has now won eleven World Cup rallies in his career. He tied with two rally legends. The situation in the World Cup is delicious.
Kalle Rovanperä has driven to victory in the Greek World Rally Championship. The Finnish driver was completely superior in the race. He won the Power Stage, which ends the race, by more than two seconds and thus grabbed a full 30 MM points.
– Big relief after the suspension in Jyväskylä. We needed this. When you start first and finish as the winner, it’s never easy. The car is great: fast and very strong, a smiling Rovanperä commented at the finish line.
– I attacked with Power at full strength, but that’s what we always do, he continued.
Rovanperä celebrated first place with a difference of one and a half minutes before the second Toyota driver Elfyn Evans. Hyundai’s Spanish champion drove third Dani Sordowhose stable mate Esapekka Lappi placed fifth. Lapland grabbed one extra point in the final.
– A couple of places went a little poorly, but I tried aggressively. It was fun! Otherwise, the weekend was not ours. This has to be improved, Lappi said at the finish line.
There was no shortage of events at the World Rally Championship in Greece. You can recap all the most dramatic moments of the race in the form of videos at the end of this article.
1. Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota 3.00.16.7
2. Elfyn Evans, Toyota +1.31.7
3. Dani Sordo, Hyundai +1.35,9
4. Ott Tänak, Ford +4.28,4
5. Esapekka Lappi, Hyundai +6.22,3
6. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +7.20,9
7. Andreas Mikkelsen, Skoda* +9.41,0
8. Gus Greensmith, Skoda* +9.51,3
9. Yohan Rossel, Citroen* +11.07,0
10. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +11.43,4
* WRC2
For Rovanpera, the win was the third of the season and the eleventh of his career. He moved into the top 20 drivers in the all-time victory statistics. He now shares the same amount of winnings Timo Salonen and Stig Blomgvist with.
Both legends reached one world championship in their careers. The victory in Greece secured Rovanperä’s grip on the second consecutive championship.
His lead in the World Series over Evans is now 33 points with only three races remaining in the season. Rovanperä can therefore afford to be completely without points in the next race, and he would still not lose his lead.
The Rally World Series continues at the end of the month on the speedy gravel roads of Chile. In theory, Rovanperä can already secure its championship in Chile. It would require that after the race, Evans and Neuville are behind the Finn by at least 60 points. Neuville is currently 66 points behind.
1. Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota, 200
2. Elfyn Evans, Toyota, 167
3. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai, 134
4. Ott Tänak, M-Sport, 119
5. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota, 99
6. Esapekka Lappi, Hyundai, 98
7. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota, 66
8. Dani Sordo, Hyundai, 63
9. Teemu Suninen, Hyundai, 34
10. Pierre-Louis Loubet, M-Sport, 28
1. Toyota, 430
2. Hyundai, 339
3. M-Sport, 220
This is how the dramatic World Rally Championship in Greece progressed to Mikkelsen’s victory in the WRC2 class
Norway drove to victory in the WRC2 class Andreas Mikkelsen. The victory was the third of the season for the Norwegian, who won the class championship in the 2021 season. He leads the class in the World Series and is firmly in the championship this year as well.
Second was driven by a Briton Gus Greensmiththe third was France, which is second in the World Cup situation Yohan Rossel.
Before the start of the rally, was third in the points standings of the WRC2 series Sami Pajari had to stop the race on Saturday.