How Rally New Zealand encapsulated record-breaking Rovanpera’s WRC title charge

There couldn’t have been a more fitting way for Kalle Rovanpera to rewrite history as the World Rally Championship’s youngest ever champion at Rally New Zealand. After uncharacteristic errors in the preceding rounds in Belgium and Greece, rallying’s new flying Finn reproduced a ‘Greatest Hits’ of his stunning 2022 campaign to claim the world title on his 22nd birthday weekend, in the land of the long white cloud.

It’s a feat unlikely to be beaten as Rovanpera eclipsed the late 1995 world champion Colin McRae’s benchmark as the WRC’s youngest champion by five years. Not only did Rovanpera write himself into the history books, his success ended a 20-year wait for a Finnish world champion.

Rovanpera has made the phrase “Full Send” his own. It’s painted on the back of his helmet, it’s all over his merchandise, and in New Zealand “Full Send Kalle” was back as he etched himself into rallying folklore. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were again at their devastating best as they pulled off their familiar party trick of being untouchable in treacherous wet conditions. It’s been key to setting up wins in Croatia, Portugal, Kenya and Estonia, and it continues to mesmerise both fans and their rivals. In New Zealand, it was used to its most profound effect yet, delivering a dominant sixth rally win of the year to secure a maiden world title in style.

After 10 years away, New Zealand welcomed the WRC back to its famous cambered ribbons of gravel that appear to have been purposely created for rallying. However, only three of the current Rally1 line-up had experienced this rallying nirvana before, in Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier (2010) and the Hyundai duo of Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville (2012). It meant that in the lead up the majority of the field took to the internet to search for old videos.

“It has been a bit of a YouTube hunt and whatever we get from the organisers,” said Elfyn Evans of his preparation for the event. “It always looks slightly different in real life to how it does on the videos. It's not so different but it is very difficult to try and learn the stages.”

Talk of sealing the title was rife in the service park given Rovanpera would leave New Zealand as world champion if he outscored Tanak by eight points. However, ending a poor run of form was all that was on the Finn’s mind. “After a few shit rallies I just want to finish the event with some good feeling,” Rovanpera told Autosport. “It will not be easy with the road cleaning on Friday, it will be huge. It will be tricky but for sure we will try.

“Of course it [the title] is quite a lot [on my mind] and having a few bad rallies like this you start to feel a bit down. I don’t need to think about it so much and I just need to go into every rally like normal.”

Despite the world title being in his grasp, Rovanpera went into Rally New Zealand just wanting to return to form

Photo by: Toyota Racing

It was an unusual nervy start for Rovanpera when the action got under way following a traditional Maori welcome to greet the WRC crews at Auckland harbour. Thousands of fans packed into the Auckland Domain parkland for a tarmac super special, where Rovanpera strangely misjudged one of the roundabouts on his way to the sixth fastest time. Title rival Tanak on the other hand won the stage to head into Friday’s gravel stages with a 0.9-second advantage over M-Sport’s Craig Breen, with Rovanpera 2.6s adrift.

Grey skies and rain was music to the ears of Rovanpera and Tanak on Friday morning, as it would reduce the damage of starting high up in the road order. Patchy rain showers did their best to challenge the crews but it was M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith that ended the iconic picture-postcard Whaanga Coast stage with the biggest grin. The Briton claimed only the second stage win of his WRC career. It was double joy for M-Sport as Breen emerged with the rally lead.

The rain continued to leave drivers scrambling for grip come the next stage, the longest of the rally at 31.48km (19.56 miles). Incredibly, Rovanpera, Tanak and Breen all set identical times, although the trio were pipped by Evans.

"Two stages, two spins. Very hard to keep the car in line, I don’t know if it’s the dampers or the suspension but I am not sure what we can do now" Thierry Neuville

The conditions failed to dampen the enjoyment of the roads. "That was absolutely beautiful – breathtaking. I probably didn't commit as much as I'd have liked to, but I enjoyed it regardless,” said rally leader Breen.

It didn’t take long for the worsening muddy conditions to catch out some of the world’s best as Neuville and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta both spun at a fast right-left. The former head-butted a bank but luckily the pair reached the stage end unscathed. A second half spin for Neuville cost him more time as his i20 N slid to a halt, teetering on the edge of a steep decline. "Two stages, two spins,” said a struggling Neuville. “Very hard to keep the car in line, I don’t know if it’s the dampers or the suspension but I am not sure what we can do now.”

The morning ultimately belonged to Tanak as the Estonian emerged 2.6s clear of both Breen and Evans, with Greensmith 9.0s adrift in fourth. Rovanpera was sixth, happy to be only 10.7s adrift having been first into the stages.

Tanak led the early running for Hyundai ahead of Breen

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

But just when it appeared Breen was well and truly in the fight for the win, it was taken away in an instant at an iconic corner. The same turn that caught out Colin McRae in 2002 snared Breen as the Irishman carried too much speed and slid down a steep embankment. Fans managed to pull the Ford Puma back onto the road but the damage had been done, 18 minutes were dropped. A clutch failure would then put Breen out for the day. “I know I shouldn't be doing all these mistakes, but it’s f****** tough,” said a dejected Breen, who would rejoin and score two stages wins on Saturday.

“It was a real surprise to see Craig off the road as he looked relaxed and the times were really good,” added M-Sport team principal Richard Millener. “We were in with a real chance this weekend, but it just goes to show how quickly that can all disappear.”

The M-Sport woe was contrasted by Ogier’s rise to the front thanks to a blistering time from the Frenchman, who benefitted from a halt in the rain. It was enough to claim the lead but it would be short-lived. A run in with a tree branch ripped the rear wing from his GR Yaris and, while initially unaware he had lost a significant amount of rear aero, time ebbed away from Ogier: "Without a rear wing on such a fast stage I did what I could, but it was not the same.”

Astonishingly at the end the longest day of the WRC season (160km, 99 miles), Tanak led by 0.2s from Evans, with Ogier 6.7s back. Rovanpera kept himself firmly in the fight having profited from fortunate breaks in the weather to win stage six, leaving him 7.2s in arrears.

The leaderboard suffered a shake-up before a wheel had turned on Saturday following a spate of hybrid boost infringements. Tanak, Neuville and Rovanpera were found to have overboosted the 240kJ limit during the Thursday superspecial, resulting in 5s penalties each, handing Evans the rally lead. Hyundai would be found guilty of the same breach again hours later as human error meant all three of its entries overboosted during Friday’s final stage. The result was 10s penalties for Tanak, Neuville and Oliver Solberg.

The rain intensified for Saturday’s stages, creating the perfect conditions for Rovanpera, celebrating his 22nd birthday, to deploy his most devastating weapon. He didn’t disappoint. His mesmerising car control in the wet turned a 12.2s deficit into 4.6s lead come mid-day service. It was a sixth and final lead change of the event.

That was only half the story because while one Toyota driver was on the rise, another was set for retirement. Rally leader Evans lost the rear of his GR Yaris in a fast right-hander, hit a bank and rolled on stage nine. The Welshman managed to reach the stage end with a damaged radiator and minus a tailgate. Frantic roadside repairs ensued that were almost a carbon copy of his team-mate Esapekka Lappi at Rally Finland in August. Although, Evans only had a roadside puddle to fill his camel bag to refill the radiator, instead of Lappi’s Finnish lake. The effort to plug the radiator and reach service would come to naught as rollcage damage ruled Evans out of the rally.

Evans time at the front was short-lived as conditions worsened and fell to the favour of Rovanpera

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Evans wasn’t the only Rally1 driver to roll. M-Sport’s cruel luck struck again as Greensmith exited sixth position in spectacular fashion, when he ran wide into a ditch that forced the cancellation of stage 10. Two tests later and Katsuta misjudged a tight left and slid off the road, before rolling down a bank, ending his run of finishing in the points at every 2022 WRC round.

Meanwhile at the front Tanak’s slim hopes of keeping the title battle alive were fading. A differential problem added to his frustration and increased the gap to Rovanpera, who produced one of his textbook wet-weather charges. Having built up a 29.0s lead over Ogier, the prospect of a history-making world title was on.

Rovanpera, however, was cool as you like amid the enormity of what could eventuate in 24 hours’ time. “I’m not so excited yet of course,” he said. “I will try to concentrate on tomorrow like a normal day. It is not a long day but there are four quite tricky short stages.”

It seemed as though nothing could halt Rovanpera on Sunday, but he did still need Ogier to remain in second ahead of Tanak. He would also require a top-five finish on the rally-ending powerstage to secure the title. But if this season has taught us anything, it’s that Rovanpera doesn’t settle for the minimum.

"It's quite a big relief after such a good season and finally we are here. It was a small wait after a few difficult rallies but the biggest thanks goes to the team – they made this rocket this year" Kalle Rovanpera

After navigating three short stages, Rovanpera delivered another “Full Send” run that Colin McRae would have been proud of, through the impressive man-made Jack’s Ridge powerstage. The result was predictable: a stage win to secure the rally by 34.6s from Ogier, and seal the title, taking McRae’s record. The usually reserved Rovanpera and co-driver Halttunen leapt onto the roof of their GR Yaris for what will be remembered as the Kalle and Jonne shuffle.

“It's quite a big relief after such a good season and finally we are here,” said Rovanpera. “It was a small wait after a few difficult rallies but the biggest thanks goes to the team – they made this rocket this year. Even after all the difficult rallies they were believing in us and giving us all the support.”

Gracious in defeat, Tanak completed a podium of world champions as the baton was handed to the WRC’s new champion just 15 months on from his first WRC win.

The top five was completed by Neuville and Solberg, while Hayden Paddon delighted home fans to finish sixth overall and win the WRC2 class.

Rovanpera makes WRC history in New Zealand - will it mark the start of a dominant era for the Finn?

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool