According to Kalle Rovanperä, no one in his close circle was surprised by the decision to only drive half of the World Rally Championship season. That was the most important thing to him.
Roope Visuri,
Jussi Jäkälä
Kalle Rovanperä competes this weekend in the traditional Mountain Rally in Rovaniemi. Urheilu caught up with the reigning world champion for an interview on the eve of the competition and after the special test.
Rovanperä shuddered at the end of last year when he said he would only drive half of the rally World Series season this year.
According to his own words, Rovanperä has been able to answer a lot about why he made his decision. The answer is said to be always the same: The result of long consideration.
For the 23-year-old rally star, the decision felt right and still does. He hasn’t followed the reactions of the Finnish rally crowd to his decision, because they don’t matter to him.
– Pretty much the group has understood that. However, the most important thing is that the close circle has understood it. Nobody was terribly surprised. It says a lot that the people watching next to them thought the idea was good, Rovanperä described to Urheilu.
According to Rovanperä, the team also took the decision well. Rovanperä is now looking forward to competing at the Arctic Circle.
– It’s always nice to go to a rally like this, Rovanperä described.
The World Rally Championship season started last weekend in Monte Carlo. Suomalaištahti didn’t really follow the race. Rovanperä said that he watched a few special tests and the Power Stage that ended the race.
So Rovanperä was aware of the final results. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville scored a full 30 points. Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans had to settle for other podium places.
Evans started strongly but eventually fell far behind Neuville. According to Evans, he lost the feel of the ride and was even a little upset about it. However, he did not want to raise his risk level too high in the final race.
– Monte was not the best from our team. Hyundai and Thierry were really strong. We have room for improvement, Rovanperä described.
Speed to Sweden from Rovaniemi
Rovanperä will compete in the next World Rally Championship in Sweden in two weeks. The downhill rally serves as a perfect preparation for the competition. Elfyn Evans is also in the race.
Toyota’s Welsh driver gets to race on snow for the first time before the World Rally Championship in Sweden. He expects that the kilometers in Rovaniemi would also help in Sweden.
– The most important goal is to prepare well for Sweden. The fight doesn’t mean that much, as long as you leave here with a good feeling, Evans answered questions about the fight against Rovanperä.
– In any case, it is important to get up to speed on such a platform. I’m glad to be here. There is work to be done from last year, so this race can be useful.
The benefit of Rovanperä’s half season is that he now gets to compete from better starting positions more often than before. The Finn hopes that in two weeks the weather will also be suitable for the further departure point.
There has been a lot of speculation about Rovanperä’s World Cup program this season, but no additional information has been heard apart from Sweden.
Even now, Toyota’s Finnish star does not go into detail about his upcoming World Rally Championship year.
– The program is pretty well known, but of course it lives on with the team and (including the half-time rider) by Sébastien Ogier by. Let’s go according to where the team thinks we are the best to drive, Rovanperä described.
The Rovaniemi Championship rally starts on Friday at 11:43. Summary of the events of the Rovaniemi SM Rally on Sunday on TV2 and Areena at 19:45.