Kalle Rovanperä is currently the only driver in the World Series who looks like a multiple champion. That’s why his World Cup leadership seems out of reach, writes Sports Micke Suopuro.
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Defective seal, broken PTO shaft, broken suspension and inoperative power steering.
It has a few problems that Hyundai and M-Sport cars had during the Safari Rally.
What about Toyota’s technical problems?
Wipers with occasional faint movement.
There is no need to look far for the reasons why the rally stable in Central Finland reached the top four in Kenya.
The tube of the team’s 25 podium places, which had been broken in Sardinia, was therefore only a statistical loss. In Safari, Toyota once again showed how the car and team are currently at a level comparable to recent history, mostly from Volkswagen.
Volkswagen, which won everything in the 2013-2016 seasons, would certainly have grabbed a quadruple victory if there had been four cars on the line at the race. Volkswagen achieved a triple victory four times.
Crowned champion in those seasons Sebastien Ogier managed to grab four wins from the first six races of the season twice.
Also Kalle Rovanperä has won four of the first six rallies thanks to the first place in the Safari Rally. The Finn has collected more than 80 percent of the points that can be distributed. The superiority is even wilder than the beginnings of Ogier’s season.
Ogier’s superiority was recognized in Volkswagen’s years, but also partly underestimated. The main reasons for the downplay were Volkswagen’s unlimited resources and its superior overall package.
It is clear that Rovanperä has also benefited from the superior package that Toyota has been able to offer him compared to other stables.
However, this alone does not explain the total dominance of the Finnish driver.
Rovanperä is better in all three areas
Rovanperä is currently running as a multiple world champion. Rovanperä’s strengths when they are the same as Sebastien’s Loeb and Ogier have earned their titles.
In Sweden and Portugal, Rovanperä has already taught others a lesson about his basic pace, the area in which rally drivers most often operate. It is a border to which a car is taken without reckless risks.
In Croatia, Rovanperä again set off his momentum reserve. The “full send” gear, and thus risk-taking, was needed for the miraculous performances of Saturday’s and Sunday’s closing scenes.
Safari showed mastery in the third area.
Rovanperä did not have to knock the risk limits once. In fact, not even the basic pace solved the game. In the midst of flying sand, rocks and mud, victory was decided by moderation – and above all, adaptability.
The race was settled on a Saturday afternoon as the sky tore and some of the special stages were covered in curl. Instead of multimasters and World Championship medalists, the brightest star was Rovanperä.
Watch the video of Rovanperä’s dizzying ride below.
Fellow teammate Elfyn Evans is a veteran of more than 110 World Rally Championships, but despite this, he was almost a second away from Rovanpera in the middle specialty of the afternoon.
Conditions were completely new to virtually all drivers in current cars. They could not be prepared for, but had to adapt.
Rovanperä also adapted. Time was not explained by risk-taking. This was also indicated by the fact that the driver himself was surprised by his time. Rovanperä when he had not tried more, but less.
Together, all of these aspects set Rovanperä apart from other drivers.
The overall package brings out the features
The importance of the overall package is highlighted in how well the driver is able to test his features. For that, Rovanperä also needs support from around.
Kartturi Jonne Halttunen has done this season a flawless work with a sheet music in hand. There are endless items on the map reader’s to-do list that need to be humbly ticked from race to race. Without this work, there is no need to dream of victory. That is why in rally cars we talk specifically about a pair of drivers.
Where Rovanperä can trust his closest co-worker, he can currently also rely on his car and the team’s activities around it. The characteristics of the car must support the basic speed, while confidence allows the driver to reach the risk limits.
No wonder the situation in the World Series is as it is.
Competitors at a huge distance
By the middle of the season, Rovanperä had collected 145 points. His World Cup lead is 65 points. Rovanpera thus has the possibility of two zero races without even changing the lead in theory.
With 13 rallies in the World Series since 2017, the championship has been won by an average of 238 points. The highest score with a second freeze in the World Series is Neuville’s 2017 balance of 227 points.
Rovanperä has a distance of 238 points to 93 points. That means about 13 points per race.
Neuville, who is second, has 80 points. He needs about 23 points per race to reach the same limit.
The average score in Rovanperä’s early season has been more than 24 points per competition.
Statistics and averages, of course, do not promise anything, especially in motorsports. However, they give a perspective on what the back distance of Rovanperä’s challengers really is.