How mature Rovanpera played the bigger picture to join the WRC's greats

Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Juha Kankkunen, Miki Biasion, Tommi Makinen and now Kalle Rovanpera all have something in common – they’re the World Rally Championship’s only back-to-back champions. This is the latest exclusive club 23-year-old Rovanpera can now call himself a signed up member of after sealing a second consecutive world title at the inaugural Central European Rally.

“It sounds quite good – it is clear that it is not so easy to do it back-to-back,” said Rovanpera upon finding out which new club he’d joined in Germany.

This championship-clinching triumph wasn’t the emphatic victory and Power Stage domination of 12 months ago at Rally New Zealand, when the Finn rewrote the record books to become the WRC’s youngest world champion. Instead, the rally spoils were claimed by Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Rovanpera’s defeated title rival Elfyn Evans even pinched the Power Stage that has become one of Kalle’s party tricks.

That aside Rovanpera’s and co-driver Jonne Halttunen’s run to second, which was more than enough to defend his crown, summed up their season perfectly. There were moments of sheer brilliance in tricky conditions that left jaws on the floor on some of the toughest asphalt stages. Then there was the incredible dose of maturity beyond his years to know when to push and what is required at any given moment to achieve his goals, which has put him a cut above the rest this year.

These two attributes were key to avoiding the pitfalls at the Central European Rally – the WRC’s newest event and the first running of an entirely different WRC concept, where crews crossed borders to contest stages in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. On paper the idea ticks a lot of boxes. It offered the rally mad nation of the Czech Republic its WRC debut while bringing rallying’s top flight to the people of three nations, who turned out in their droves.

There was, however, one drawback, that being 1380.69km (over 850 miles) of road section – the highest of the season – to complete 310km (just under 200 miles) of competitive stages, ensuring long days for everyone associated. It’s a factor that will be addressed by organisers for next year’s edition.

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

On the challenging border-crossing tarmac roads Rovanpera had moved into the lead before the crash for Evans prompted a change of approach

This voyage into the unknown battleground comprising various changes of asphalt and unpredictable weather was the backdrop for a significant act in the title race between Toyota team-mates Rovanpera and Evans. The equation was simple. Evans needed to outscore his young stablemate to take the title fight to a deciding round in Japan.

His case was backed up by a more impressive record on Tarmac than his opposite number – a 50% podium conversion rate since 2020 compared to 29% for Rovanpera. But Rovanpera was on a mission, stating before the event that he was planning a “big push” to wrap up the title. Likewise, Evans was realistic knowing that he would realistically need his rival to suffer misfortune, but maintained an “anything can happen” outlook.

A three-and-a-half-hour road trip from the rally’s service park in the German city of Passau, located near to Austrian and Czech borders, to the Czech capital Prague began this marathon. Two superspecial stages later and Neuville emerged with a 1.2-second lead over M-Sport’s Ott Tanak after a tricky stage two, held at night in damp conditions.

Rovanpera has turned mastering slippery road surfaces into an art form. His task was made somewhat easier by his advanced road position as conditions worsened, with every car that passed through dragging mud onto the road

Neuville’s pace wasn’t a surprise, having topped shakedown. The Belgian is renowned for his record on new asphalt events, having won the all-new Rally Japan last year and Rally Belgium before it when it arrived on the 2021 calendar. Speaking after Wednesday shakedown, he exclaimed “the stages look good – challenging of course but exactly what I like”. It was a sign of things to come.

In the title race, first blood went to Rovanpera, who headed into Friday fourth, 5.8s adrift while Evans was down in eighth, 10.7s in arrears after overshooting a junction on stage two. The Welshman fared better than Esapekka Lappi however. A jump-start on the opening stage, held around a horse racing track packed with fans, cost the Hyundai driver a 10s penalty.

That aside, the unique nature of crossing borders in this rally made headlines on Thursday night as WRC3 champion Roope Korhonen, who received his championship winning plaque hours earlier, was forced to retire from the event after German police stopped him at the Czech/German border. The issue was the validity of the registration plates and the documentation pertaining to his B.M.P S.r.l-run Skoda. German police imposed a ban on the car while the FIA found the documentation contained “various falsifications”, resulting in a 10,000 Euro fine for the team. Rally2 competitors Matteo Gamba, Eamonn Boland and Christian Windischberger were also stopped at the border.

If crossing borders to tackle brand-new stages wasn’t enough, the heavens opened on Friday to create some of the most challenging conditions of the season. It played into the hands of Rovanpera, who has turned mastering slippery road surfaces into an art form. His task was made somewhat easier by his advanced road position as conditions worsened, with every car that passed through dragging mud onto the road from the myriad of cuts.

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Lappi's rally began in disappointing fashion on the opening stage with a jump start before a heavy crash put him out

A clean sweep of the morning loop on Czech roads thrusted Rovanpera into the rally lead but it was his stage four performance that turned heads, posting a time 10.1s quicker than anyone else. In classic Rovanpera style, he brushed off the performance.

“It was not so easy to get on the pace here,” he said opening up an 18.1s lead over a struggling Neuville. “We got the info that this was to be even more wet than the first one, so I think I was a bit too careful in many places.”

The overnight leader started third on the road but even his reasonably elevated road position cost him valuable time, although visibility issues contributed to his time loss. “The conditions are really, really tricky,” Neuville said. “The visibility's bad and we lost the car a little bit in the fast section. I can tell you at that speed with all the surprises, it's really dangerous.”

His team-mate Lappi appeared to thrive. Boosted by a new front differential and brake pads, he was much more comfortable driving the i20N and was Rovanpera’s nearest rival despite facing muddier roads. Recovering from the jump-start penalty, Lappi climbed to third before his progress was halted in spectacular fashion on stage five. The Finn slightly misjudged a narrow section and clipped a tree with the right-rear, triggering an enormous crash that was lucky not to cause any injuries to crew and spectators.

"When you hit the trees for sure you know it is game over,” said Lappi after his third high-profile crash in the last four events. “Yeah, for sure this was one of the biggest disappointments for me this season.”

Lappi’s demise helped elevate Evans into second overall, 29.2s behind Rovanpera. A benchmark time on stage six, which was cancelled after five Rally1 cars passed due to spectators standing in dangerous positions, nibbled a small chunk of time out of his title rival. But his work came undone following a difficult run through stage eight, which dropped him back behind Neuville in third, 47.2s behind leader Rovanpera. The title battle swung towards Rovanpera.

“Clearly the gap is not going to be reachable by pure driving,” Evans told Autosport. “He has done an incredible job today. Of course, he made the use of his road position but also more than that, and in fairness he has done a really great job and I couldn’t follow his speed. We will continue to do the best we can until the end.”

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Evans quickly recognised that Rovanpera would take some stopping after a superb Friday showing from the Finn

Rovanpera refused to think about the prospect of a second world title: “I don’t really think about it too much as there is quite a long way to go.”

Outside of the top three, Tanak battled with the set-up of his Ford Puma to reach the end of day service in fourth, 1m30.4s adrift, but ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta. Eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier recovered from 10th to sixth after his morning was derailed by tyre damage caused by a broken rim on stag three.

“Unbelievable, unbelievable. What can I say? I can't wait for when Michelin is back,” said an angry Ogier, who later explained he’d lost his “motivation”, before beginning a recovery across the afternoon. He admitted to being close to giving up completely after revealing he was fighting a mystery illness.

"We tried to rotate the car to maybe see if I could get away with hitting it sideways but unfortunately I caught the radiator on the corner of the shed and ripped off a wheel" Elfyn Evans

“I’m not so sure what it is, but it is definitely affecting my head with a headache and concentration, and I feel a bit dizzy as well,” he said. “It’s has been like this for some days. Today with the [tyre] problem as well, I was close to giving up to be honest.”

If Friday’s action shortened the odds on Rovanpera becoming world champion, a dramatic Saturday more or less ensured he had two hands on the trophy. But it wasn’t without a scare for the championship leader as the rally moved into Austria and Germany.

Rival Evans lived up to his “doing all he can mantra” by starting the day with a stage win. The next test, stage 10 (Muhltal 1, 27.15 km) offered a glimmer of hope thanks to a rare Rovanpera mistake. With the road order reversed, the rally leader faced the worst of the damp roads and overshot a hairpin left. Luckily, his GR Yaris skidded straight on and arrowed into a gap in the trees. He recovered but 24.7s was lost, slashing the deficit to the chasing Neuville, and more importantly Evans.

That glimmer of hope for Evans was quickly extinguished on the very next stage. The Toyota driver locked an inside front wheel, which pushed the car wide and off the road at a relatively slow speed. The GR Yaris clattered into a shed, damaging the radiator while ripping off a rear wheel. Evans would rejoin the rally on Sunday but it was match point to Rovanpera.

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Evans rejoined the rally after his Saturday altercation with a shed, but all hope of outscoring Rovanpera was lost

“We were heading into the shed, let’s say, too fast to go in head first,” said Evans. “We tried to rotate the car to maybe see if I could get away with hitting it sideways but unfortunately I caught the radiator on the corner of the shed and ripped off a wheel. Of course it is a disappointment. We knew anyway it [the title] was a long shot. We knew we had to try what we could in a way, and having said that I think this type of incident is just one of those things.”

Upon hearing the news before he started the stage, Rovanpera showed his maturity and opted to back right off, surrendering his lead to Neuville. Rovanpera said he had a battle with himself not to push across a dry afternoon loop, but stuck to his plan, allowing Neuville to open up a commanding lead. But Rovanpera couldn’t completely resist the urge to “drive a bit” as he put it, ending the day with a remarkable fastest time on stage 14, that was likened to Rally GB thanks to being caked in mud.

“There was a big fight in the car between myself not to fight for the win and just trying to keep the car on the road, which was a big challenge today but the plan worked well,” said Rovanpera. “It [stage 14] was something crazy. I haven't seen anything like this before and I don't think many drivers have. There were a few corners on Tarmac and everything else on mud and gravel.”

With Rovanpera focused on bringing the car home to claim the title, Neuville also didn’t have to push to protect his 26.2s lead. As a result, Neuville cruised to a second win of the year after navigating Sunday’s four stages on German roads.

“First of all, really a relief to be at the finish, but I think overall we’ve done a very good job - good consistency, which basically paid off,” said Neuville, who took the spoils by 57.6s.

Rovanpera stuck to his conservative plan and unusually elected not to unleash on the Power Stage to seal a deserved title. It prompted the latest choreographed rooftop title celebration from the Rovanpera and Halttunen.

Tanak claimed the final podium spot after surviving various issues. The Hyundai-bound Estonian suffered a broken gear lever and knob, which he jokingly put down to “going to the gym too much”, a puncture on a road section, and a hydraulic issue that briefly saw him slide into a ditch on Saturday night.

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Neuville drove consistently to win and close the gap to Evans in the battle for second in the standings

Ogier’s difficult rally ended with the Frenchman fourth ahead of Katsuta, who found the confidence to push on challenging roads and hold off Teemu Suninen. M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster, in only his second Rally1 start, finished seventh and in front of team-mate Adrien Fourmaux, who recovered from 15th in class to take out the Rally2 category, prior to his Rally1 promotion for the Japan season finale. Nicolas Ciamin claimed a maiden WRC2 win as the Frenchman finished ninth overall.

Pierre-Louis Loubet rounded out the top 10 in his final Rally1 outing of the year for M-Sport after a challenging first rally alongside new co-driver Benjamin Veillas. Loubet was handed a one-minute penalty for failing to correctly fasten his helmet, before losing five minutes to a crash on stage eight. A transmission issue halted his progress on Sunday.

"I think this year is for me personally more important than last year. The competition was tighter" Kalle Rovanpera

Three-time WRC rally winner and Toksport Skoda driver Andreas Mikkelsen recovered from a Friday crash to claim a second WRC2 title. Despite finishing 13th in class, a fastest time on the Power Stage brought him level on points with rival Gus Greensmith, winning the title on countback by virtue of three wins to the Briton’s two.

But the final words belonged to the new two-time world rally champion Rovanpera, as he joined rallying’s elite.

“I think this year is for me personally more important than last year,” said Rovanpera. “The competition was tighter, we did a good job. Big thanks to Jonne, he is the world's best co-driver and the team is the best as well. It's nice – I cannot say much more. I'm going to enjoy this one more than the first one.”

Photo by: M-Sport

Neuville won the battle, but it was Rovanpera who won the war and with it a second title