Sebastien Ogier won the Catalunya World Cup Rally and Kalle Rovanperä was third. Toyota, which operates in central Finland, won the team championship.
14:13•Updated 14:14
Toyota, which operates in central Finland, has secured the team championship in the World Rally Championship. The championship was secured in the last previous race of the season in Catalonia. Toyota needed one car in the top three and one car in the top six for the championship in Catalonia. The championship was decided clearly when the Toyota drivers Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä reached the podium among the three.
Ogier won and Rovanperä was third. Hyundai got between them Thierry Neuville. The order was also the same on the Power Stage that ended the race.
Finnish-led Toyota now won the team championship in the World Series for the second time in a row. Now the season has been a real jackpot, as the team also won the drivers’ championship driven by Kalle Rovanperä.
– Big congratulations to the team. We showed this year how talented the team is. Thanks to everyone who made the new car so strong, fast and reliable. We were only able to have fun with the map reader in the cockpit, Rovanperä says in the mock interview at the end of the race.
The Rovanperä competition was full of events. On Friday, Rovanperä ended his first race day as world champion with a fun moment together with his map reader Jonne Halttunen with.
Rovanperä and Halttus also had a couple of tight bend cuts right before the finish line, but survived with their skins intact.
– It was a good salad! Halttunen laughed.
– From the cut, it went a little wide and over the intersection. There’s nothing surprising about that. As long as we laughed at a good slide, Rovanperä said later in the evening service.
On Saturday’s morning run, Rovanperä experienced a scary moment when a mysterious lump appeared on the driving line in the last corner of the 10th special test. It was suspected to be brick, for example, but the final shape was not clear.
– I do not know. It looked like a brick or a piece of concrete, Rovanperä said.
– Fortunately, it wasn’t hard when it hit the concrete armor.
– Yes, it’s a bit jarring at that speed. It takes a moment to think that you can’t dodge and it’s bad if you get hit.
However, Rovanperä drove until Saturday in second place behind Ogier. According to Rovanperä, the last special test of the day was a special test against itself.
Rovanperä stated in the finish interview that he did many things wrong before leaving for the special test.
– When going to Pätka, the buttons were, how does it hurt. At the beginning of the clip, the hybrid was not on. Of course, it interfered quite a lot when I was trying to turn it on all the time. Of course, there was no boost in use. Towards the end, the hybrid didn’t work as it should. The brakes were about to fail on the last downhill, Rovanperä later explained to Urheilu in the service park.
Thierry Neuville caught up with Rovanperä and passed the Finn on the scoreboard in the public special stage on Saturday evening.
On Sunday, the struggle for second place ended when Riudecanyes, driven as Power Stage, was pulled through for the first time. Rovanperä experienced a flat tire, just like before Craig Breen and Elfyn Evans. Rovanperä experienced a flat tire in the so-called “lottery place.” Last year you could drive cleanly over the gutter, but now you can’t.
– We talked to many drivers in the notation about whether it would be possible to go or not. In the evening, I still watched last year’s videos, that it was overrun. This year it was apparently a little worse. The note said don’t go, but I decided whether to go or not. There was a place that you remember and could decide on, Rovanperä revealed.
In the finish interview of the competition, Rovanperä was all smiles.
– Not a very good result, but we have made good results this year. This is not bad either, Rovanperä said.
You can find all the twists and turns of the Catalan World Rally in our live coverage here. The post games from the rally are also updated in the article.