Expert Miikka Anttila believes that Kalle Rovanperä does not want to secure his championship in Jyväskylä.
Kalle Rovanperä drove over the weekend in a stunning way to victory in the World Rally Championship in Estonia. Rovanperä defeated his teammate by Elfyn Evans by a minute and won his fifth rally of the season.
Rovanperä increased his World Championship lead to no less than 83 points, with six races left in the season. At the moment, Rovanperä can secure the world championship well before the last races.
– That was quite a performance from Kalle. Superlatives run out to tell what his performance level is at the moment, considering that he is still a guy in his twenties. He has a great future in the sport, Urheilu’s expert Miikka Anttila anneal.
The World Series continues from the 4th to the 7th. August at the home rally in Jyväskylä. Rovanperä has never won the main class with equipment in Jyväskylä, because last autumn’s competition ended in suspension and the previous year there was no World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä.
However, Rovanperä has celebrated victory in Jyväskylä in 2019 with a WRC2 Pro class car. Anttila believes that Rovanperä wants to celebrate in Jyväskylä also the victory of the main category. The expert does not believe in securing the championship when talking about the youngster.
– No matter how you tell Kalle that it would be worthwhile to secure the championship now, I think that he wants to win Jyväskylä.
– All in all, a fast rally is a good rally for Kalle. He enjoys fast rallies. When he was able to rule overwhelmingly here, I see no reason why not in Finland as well.
Rovanperä drives for himself
Anttila believes that the pressure will come this time as well. However, according to the expert, the pressure is not important, because Rovanperä has shown that he can control it.
– It seems that the amazing result is based on the fact that he does the work for himself and not for anyone else. He wants to succeed and doesn’t do results for others.
In the World Rally Championship in Estonia, the differences between the teams grew significantly, when Hyundai’s Ott Tänak less than two minutes behind Rovanperä and the team mate Thierry Neuville another two minutes from Tänak.
More equal Jyväskylä
Anttila believes that in conditions like Finland, all three teams are closer to each other. The expert also reminds that the conditions are a little easier in Jyväskylä anyway. Even if it rains like it does in Estonia, the roads will not go into ruts and in such bad condition.
– The conditions are not that difficult in Finland, but a fast rally requires an engine and top speed from the car. If Ford and Hyundai can’t answer this for Toyota, then it will be challenging. I would think that all three teams are more evenly populated in Finland-type conditions.
The expert also believes that Hyundai will benefit from its main test area in Finland.
– If they can use it at all, then the car should be more competitive. At least we have used the same test track during the Volkswagen era, and then we were able to apply the winning speed to the Volkkar. I believe that Hyundai can do the same thing and get improvements to their car.