How Rovanpera's shock single-seater switch impacts the WRC

The World Rally Championship silly season had been bumbling along but news that Kalle Rovanpera will be leaving for Super Formula will kick the 2026 driver market into overdrive.

Rovanpera’s decision to leave the WRC at the end of the year to embark on a full-time career in single-seaters has opened up a vacancy for one of the most coveted seats in the WRC - a drive at Toyota.

Interestingly, neither Toyota, Hyundai or M-Sport-Ford have confirmed any of their seats for next year with only three rounds of the season remaining, ahead of the short turnaround for the 2026 season’s January opener in Monte Carlo.

Who will be in the race to fill Rovanpera’s seat?

Toyota, in most recent seasons, has revealed its driver line-up following the season-ending Rally Japan. In the announcement revealing Rovanpera’s move to Super Formula, team principal Jari Matti Latvala offered a small hint towards its future plans.

“We will miss having him [Rovanpera] in our team, but TGR [Toyota Gazoo Racing] has been working hard to develop talented young rally drivers and we can be confident that we will be able to count on a strong line-up of drivers in 2026 and beyond,” said Latvala.

This process of developing young talent was evident this year as Toyota promoted 2024 WRC2 champion Sami Pajari into its Rally1 programme, in a move similar to when it brought 2019 WRC champion Rovanpera into the fold in 2020, and could again be repeated. One driver that will be inevitably linked to the seat is Oliver Solberg, who last month clinched a maiden WRC2 crown driving a Printsport-prepared Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. This success followed a sensational drive to win Rally Estonia outright in a one-off outing with Toyota in July. That drive proved to the rally world and Toyota that the Swede is ready for a second shot at Rally1 after a challenging partial season with Hyundai in 2022. Solberg would appear to be a logical fit.

Having won Rally Estonia in July, Solberg looks a strong bet to slot into the Toyota line-up in place of Rovanpera

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Solberg has stated that his aim is to graduate to Rally1 on a full-time basis, although the 24-year-old admitted that no contract had been signed when asked about his 2026 plans after claiming the WRC2 title at Rally Chile.

“I really hope we can try and get something together and get a good plan for next year and hopefully have a full season of WRC. I think we have done everything we can and now we just have to do everything we can to try and get into a top team," said Solberg.

Toyota currently fields as many as five GR Yaris’ this season with Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Pajari and Sebastien Ogier filling the seats. It is unclear what lies ahead for Rovanpera’s team-mates in 2026, particularly Ogier, who is currently in the running to score a record-equalling ninth world title from a partial campaign. Ogier has hinted that he is reaching the end of his career but has also reiterated that he will continue competing while he is still able to fight for wins, and this year is poof that the Frenchman still has plenty left in the tank.

Fourmaux certainly fits the bill if Toyota wishes to replace Rovanpera with a younger driver climbing the ranks that has already shown potential

An opening at Toyota will no doubt pique the interest of drivers at Hyundai. The Korean marque’s future in the WRC beyond this year was only confirmed in August, but it is unclear if the team will continue into 2027.

Although there has been no official communication, it is expected that Thierry Neuville will continue at Hyundai next year. The reigning world champion’s team-mates Ott Tanak and Adrien Fourmaux have, however, been coy when asked about their futures. It is understood that Hyundai wishes to keep its current line-up for next year.

Tanak could be an option for Toyota having previously driven for the brand in 2018 and 2019, famously winning his only world title in the final year of his deal before leaving for Hyundai. There has been plenty of water under the bridge since he turned his back on Toyota and there will no doubt be interest in making the switch, having admired the pace of the GR Yaris from his seat of his i20 N. Although, Toyota signing Tanak, who is regarded as perhaps the WRC’s fastest driver, could risk damaging the championship with the team having a significant monopoly of the WRC’s best drivers.

Tanak could also be an option at Toyota

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Fourmaux certainly fits the bill if Toyota wishes to replace Rovanpera with a younger driver climbing the ranks that has already shown potential. The 30-year-old has impressed since joining Hyundai this year and has threatened on several occasions to take victories only for misfortune, sometimes outside of his control, denying him the opportunity. With Hyundai’s long-term future uncertain it would be logical for Fourmaux to investigate his future options.

The WRC will miss Rovanpera

It is only natural that after such a bombshell announcement that attention will quickly shift to the race to replace Rovanpera.

But the reality that Rovanpera will be leaving the WRC at the end of the season means the championship will lose a generational talent capable of producing stunning drives that have defied his tender years. Whether it is his ability to star in the most treacherous of wet conditions, dominate on asphalt in the Canary Islands, tame the wilderness of Kenya, or win a rally he wasn’t supposed to contest and without full preparation after receiving a last-minute call to replace an injured Ogier in Poland last year.

Not only is Rovanpera a force of nature behind the wheel, he is one of its most likeable characters in the service park with a sense of humour to match that has helped him win legions of fans old and young the world over.

While often able to raise a smile from onlookers though his stage-end comments, Rovanpera is also a driver that isn’t scared to say what he truly believes, which in this day and age is refreshing and courageous. This manifests itself in many ways, for example in Sweden in 2022 he chose not to celebrate and pay tribute to those suffering in Ukraine following the aftermath of the Russian invasion. Likewise, if there is an aspect on the sporting side he feels can be improved then Rovanpera is not shy to speak up and try to affect positive change.

There is no doubt Rovanpera is a box office superstar who certainly knows how to drive and entertain. Last year the WRC experienced fewer appearance from Rovanpera given his decision to contest a partial campaign, but next year it is likely his absence will be felt more on several levels.

Rovanpera will be missed from the rally scene

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

For the WRC, the good news is there are young talents coming through the ranks, with the likes of Solberg, Fourmaux and Pajari, but it will be incredibly difficult to completely fill the void on and away from the stages that Rovanpera leaves behind.

The WRC’s loss is however circuit racing and Super Formula’s gain with Rovanpera now likely to build upon his loyal fanbase. Interestingly, Rovanpera isn’t the first WRC star to sample single-seaters, with 1995 champion Colin McRae, nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb and eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier famously enjoying F1 outings. McRae piloted a 1996 Jordan F1 car at Silverstone as part of a car swap stunt that saw then-Jordan driver Martin Brundle drive McRae’s WRC Subaru Impreza. In 2007, Loeb drove a Renault F1 show car at the Paul Ricard Circuit before joining Red Bull at an F1 winter test in Barcelona 2008, where he set an astonishing eighth-fastest time driving a Red Bull RB4. Red Bull also gave Ogier a run out in a 2011 car in 2017.

Rovanpera may be jumping into the deep end, as he puts it, but as his career to date suggests, it is likely that he will succeed in this latest venture.

How will Rovanpera get on in Super Formula?

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool