Of the teams, only M-Sport has tested Sweden for the World Rally Championship in Sweden. Toyota and Hyundai have trusted their test areas located in central Finland.
11:09•Updated 11:10
Kalle Rovanperä gives a thumbs up and smiles for the camera as he steps towards the stable, where his tool is already growling into action. Relaxation exudes from the entire Toyota test team. Part of the reason for the atmosphere is probably the sun shining over the central Finnish country road and fifty degrees below zero, which make the conditions ideal for testing for the winter rally.
However, a more significant factor than the weather conditions is probably the successful World Cup opening in Monte Carlo for the entire team. In the first half of last season, the Hyundai team, which had a bad start on the grid, quickly caught up to Toyota’s technical lead towards the end of the season, and in many expert evaluations, Hyundai’s performance was rated even better than Toyota’s for this season.
Especially when the Korean team got their new drivers Esapekka Lapin and by Craig Breen along with valuable information about both of their rival teams.
– Last year, at the end of the season, Hyundai was ahead of us in many respects. However, our guys have done a good job. The cars were in good shape at Monte and the drivers were satisfied. Hopefully the same applies to snow and gravel as well, Rovanperä tells Urheilu.
Only M-Sport tested in Sweden
Toyota’s own, unrestricted test area in central Finland plays an even more important role this season, because according to the new rules, WRC factory teams are only allowed to run 21 test days in Europe during the season. As in the previous season, testing outside of Europe is completely prohibited. If the test responsibility is divided equally in a team of three drivers, seven test days are available for each driver.
However, there are nine races in Europe, so pre-testing requires compromises. That’s why Toyota ran its preparatory tests for the World Rally Sweden in its own test area, saving official test days. Hyundai did the same, which moved its own test area to the Jämsä region last year.
Only the M-Sport team drove their test in Sweden. In addition to that, acquired as the number one gun in the stable Ott Tänak will compete this coming weekend with a Rally1 car in the Otepää rally in Estonia.
Lappi and Katsusta in Kuopio SM rally, Tänak in Otepää
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai Esapekka Lappi on the other hand, will participate in the Kuopio SM rally on Saturday with Rally1 cars. Participating in national competitions does not use up test quota days and it is quite likely that the teams will use them more in the future than in previous seasons. Of course, the test restriction tightened to reduce costs will backfire at that point.
Especially the top drivers Thierry Neuville criticizes the reduction of test days at the beginning of the season quite sharply. Rovanperä approaches the matter with the calmness of a world champion, but admits that less preparation for the conditions of the competition venue brings additional challenges in some cases.
How and why does M-Sport intend to use the test rule to Ott Tänak’s advantage? Listen to Urheilu’s podcast below.
– Yes, less testing brings its own difficulties. It’s already so precise these days that you get the cars right for the race. Now that there are fewer testing opportunities, we will definitely have to make some compromises in some competitions, what to put under when there is no 100% sure information, Rovanperä describes.
In Sweden, Rovanperä cannot “patch with a glove”
There will hardly be a problem in the Swedish rally. On top of all that, the Toyota drivers were able to drive their tests in different weather conditions: in addition to the icy road surface, there was also slush and mud. The weather still plays the biggest role in evaluating the success chances of Rovanperä, who will be the first to start the route on the opening day of the race in Sweden.
Snowfall or a very soft road surface may lead to the fact that even a top driver will not be able to “fix the situation with a glove” sufficiently.
– We’ll see what the weather holds, but I’ll probably have to plow, which won’t make Friday and the start of the rally any easier. Hopefully, however, we will stay in the fight at the beginning of the rally. Then we can create good rebellions, Rovanperä grins.
According to them, at least the company will not be missing. As if to guarantee that, the reigning world champion greedily attacks the lightening bend of the test road. While going, the plastic marker post placed on the inside of the bend also takes a hit and flies into the forest.
What other topic of conversation in the World Rally Championship is talking about than testing? The future of the sport, of course! Listen below as Urheiluhullui went over the reasons why there are so few teams in the World Championship, and no new ones are coming.