Kalle Rovanperä broke another record – the expressions of the pressured Sébastien Ogier did not support the words

The self-assured Kalle Rovanperä forced Sébastien Ogier to stretch his limits on his home field, writes rally reporter Miika Wuorela from Monte Carlo.

Kalle Rovanperä opened the World Rally Championship season with a classy performance that eventually resulted in second place in the iconic Monte Carlo Rally.

In Monte Carlo, the battle for the victory of the rally continued until the end. Rovanperä didn’t even give up, even though he had Monte and the king of the whole sport to contend with. The Finn knew that the experienced Frenchman, by Sébastien Ogier, the skin has to hang on, even if it hurts. And Rovanperä also did that.

Rovanperä showed that he is braver in every way and more ready to fight, even if everything is not 100% okay. Toyota did the trick and Rovanperä was able to ski on the slopes of the French Maritime Alps carefree.

The young man’s personality exudes self-confidence. Rovanperä is not called an ice man, because in his basic nature he is a sensitive and warm-hearted person who speaks Finnish a surprising amount.

With his young eyes and hawk eye, Rovanperä rakes potential danger spots with special tests. Ogier wished his young rival good luck, especially for the Saturday afternoon run, when he felt the speed rise to an uncomfortably hard level. However, Rovanperä didn’t need luck. On the other hand, he had the skill behind his back.

The lead of the French multi-champion shrank from 36 to 16 seconds on Saturday. It was something other than what Ogier had counted on when he started the day and the rally. Did Rovanperä have a third trick in his back pocket, with which he would knock out Ogier on his soil?

Ogier claimed to have observed the situation with the calmness of a champion during the closing special stage of the day, driven in the twilight of the evening, but the man’s expressions did not fully support his claim. Rovanperä knows how to get under the skin of his opponents – not with his words, but with his actions, and the mix is ​​apt to mix up the messes of every competitor.

Rovanperä added another record to his resume after driving his 100th bottom time on Saturday – as the youngest driver of all time, naturally.

The final result of the rally was better for Finns than many people realize. The last Finnish victory in the World Championship in Monte from 2006 came in the name of honesty To Marcus Grönholm only possible Sébastien Loeb after the first day’s suspension. Also Jari-Matti Latvala has reached second place in Monte, bowing to Ogier as well.

Rovanperä fought against Montessa Ogier very manfully – so that the pace only increased towards the end of the race. With this, he forced Ogier to stretch his own limits, so the possibility of a mistake on both sides increases significantly.

Of course, second place is not the same as victory, but Rovanperä fell with his boots on. He raised the bar high and fought to the chalk lines. Rovanperä didn’t need to be reminded that we were now moving through landscapes as familiar to Ogier as the Jyväskylä region is to Rovanperä.

But what did it matter. Rovanperä is a fighter who cannot be broken by underestimating his opportunities. Ogier had no such misconception, so the Frenchman kept the flame alive, even though the name of the worst contender had changed from Loeb to Rovanpera.

The season is fast becoming another great year for Rovanpera.