Autosport Awards
Rovanpera named Autosport’s International Rally Driver of the Year
World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera is the winner of Autosport’s 2022 International Rally Driver of the Year Award.
Rovanpera won six rounds on his way to the crown with Toyota to become the youngest WRC champion at the age of 22.
Autosport readers have voted the Finn the top rally driver of 2022, ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville, and M-Sport’s Sebastien Loeb. It is the first time Rovanpera has won the honour.
Rovanpera’s victory was announced on 4 December at the Autosport Awards at Grosvenor House on Park Lane.
PLUS: How Rovanpera has ripped up the WRC record book
The Award was collected on Rovanpera's behalf by Toyota's Keiichi Kondo and presented by Robert Reid, the FIA's Deputy President for Sport.
Former winners of the award, which has been running since 1982 and is open to professional or semi-professional rally drivers competing at international level, include Audi stars Michele Mouton and Stig Blomqvist, and multiple world champions Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz, Tommi Makinen, Loeb and Sebastien Ogier. Colin McRae (three times), Richard Burns (twice) and Elfyn Evans (once) have also taken the accolade.
Robert Reid presents the award to Keiichi Kondo
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Other categories decided by fan voting include International Racing Driver of the Year presented by Pirelli, British Competition Driver of the Year, Rookie of the Year, International Racing Car of the Year presented by Blink Experience, Rally Car of the Year, National Driver of the Year and Esports Driver of the Year presented by Motorsport Games.
Further awards, decided by expert judging panels, include the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, the Gold Medal for lifetime legacy, the Gregor Grant Award for lifetime achievement, Motorsport Promoter of the Year, and Esports Team of the Year presented by Motorsport Games. Moment of the Year presented by Bang & Olufsen and Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future are awards that have returned for 2022.
To find out who our other Award winners are, go to autosport.com/awards
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 wins Autosport’s Rally Car of the Year Award
Ranking the top 10 WRC drivers of 2022
Toyota WRC boss Latvala plotting rally return
Toyota World Rally Championship boss Jari-Matti Latvala is plotting a competitive rally return with an outing behind the wheel of Toyota’s new Rally2 GR Yaris.
No Ferrari number one driver, but Vasseur won't hesitate to "take action"
New Ferrari Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur says there will be no number one driver at the team this season, but he won't hesitate to "take action" if needed.
Aitken ends Williams F1 role to focus on sportscars
Jack Aitken has announced he and the Williams Formula 1 team have parted ways ahead of the 2023 season as he pursues a career in sportscar racing.
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.