The other objective a rejuvenated Rovanpera carries into his WRC return

There is perhaps no more ominous a prospect in the World Rally Championship than a refreshed and rejuvenated Kalle Rovanpera eyeing a third crown. This is what lies in wait for the WRC’s elite in 2025, with the Toyota star returning for a full-time campaign after scaling back his commitments last year to recharge his batteries while exploring new motorsport horizons.

This expansion of the Finn’s repertoire included a venture into circuit racing, competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series. He also undertook a Formula 1 test with Red Bull Racing, following in the footsteps of nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb, who did the very same in 2008. Rovanpera then took on endurance racing at the Dubai 24 Hours earlier this month.

It appears that he boasts that rare trait of being a true all-rounder; he won three of those Carrera Cup races, his first coming at Imola in only his fourth start.

While circuit racing occupied much of Rovanpera’s time last year, he still made a significant impact in his seven WRC starts, leading all of them before going on to win four (in Kenya, Poland, Latvia and Chile), a tally that eclipsed his 2023 title-winning season. Those victories, including a stunning run in Rally Poland after being thrown in at the last minute to replace injured team-mate Sebastien Ogier, also played a part in Toyota’s narrow yet successful defence of its manufacturers’ title. The target for 2025 is clear.

“There is just one goal: to try and win again and be fighting for the championship, so of course I need to come back working hard,” he declares.

This season could offer up a different Rovanpera to the one who swept all before him to win the 2022 and 2023 titles. The 24-year-old says he has “learned many things” about himself during his year away from the full WRC schedule, and is hopeful that skills learned on the track can help him be even better on asphalt rallies.

Rovanpera continued to win rallies in 2024, and now is back full-time with a third title in his sights

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

But chief among his objectives is to enjoy his rallying more. After all, when athletes take pleasure in their craft, it usually translates to stellar results.

“I would say it was a really great year and a lot of fun, and pretty much what I was expecting,” he smiles about his 2024 activities. “I didn’t take time off from rallying just to be at home; I had quite clear plans to do something else.

“I’ve learned what kind of things I enjoy and what kind of things I want to do in my life. Of course, I’ve also been learning as a driver on the circuit racing stuff – I think there have been many positive things. Driving an F1 car was definitely a cool experience. It was a super-fast car and it just takes everything you give it basically. ”

"I will try to learn how to do good results and fight for a championship, but still enjoy the driving and enjoy the competition more"
Kalle Rovanpera

Nevertheless, Rovanpera will likely make tweaks rather than major changes to his WRC attack.

“I have pretty much the same kind of approach, but I think I’ll try to enjoy rallying a bit more than I have done in the past maybe,” he predicts. “I will try to learn how to do good results and fight for a championship, but still enjoy the driving and enjoy the competition more – that’s my goal.

“For me, enjoyment comes from good results. If I don’t do well, nothing is fun when you are competing on the high level. I will try to work hard and have good motivation from 2024 for 2025.”

The return of such a talent will create an air of expectation, and Rovanpera’s Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala is convinced that his charge will be firing on all cylinders: “I expect him to be fighting for the title, he is going to be fast for sure. When he comes he wants to win. We also know that Kalle has been experimenting in 2024 and I’m not sure he will drive many years in rally, but when he does he will be fully committed.”

Latvala expects his rejuvenated charge to be right in the thick of the title fight on his return

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

While Rovanpera has been away from the full-time WRC scene, the crown has been passed to Thierry Neuville, the bespectacled Belgian finally taking a maiden title with Hyundai after finishing runner-up on five occasions.

“I didn’t really think about it much – we will see who is where – but for sure Thierry showed that he was really consistent and doing a proper championship approach and drive, so I’m sure he will be doing the same thing,” reckons Rovanpera.

He may be the favourite, but Rovanpera will likely find himself locked in an intense fight to secure a third world title. As well as the other leading contenders, there are technical and sporting regulation changes that all crews will have to adapt to. It’s certainly not going to be easy…

The title contenders

Fresh from the glory of putting his nearly-man status to bed, Neuville now finds himself with #1 on his Hyundai and with a target on his back. How he reacts to competing as a world champion is an intriguing prospect. Will we see a Neuville no longer carrying a burden and driving with more freedom? It is clear that the pressure had been building on a man who admitted, when reflecting on his title success, that this release “is probably the best feeling” .

But the fire is perhaps burning even brighter now that he has proved he has the speed, resolve and tactical brain to win a title, evidenced by the way he mastered the WRC’s radical points system last year.

“I’m looking forward to it,” asserts the 36-year-old. “We will have to see what happens [without hybrid and with new tyres]. I don’t expect much difference from before, and from the outside people will not see anything different.”

Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak ultimately emerged as Neuville’s closest challenger in 2024, taking the title fight down to the wire in Japan before that now infamous final-day crash from the lead that resulted in significant manufacturers’ title ramifications for the South Korean marque, and his being jumped in the final drivers’ standings by Elfyn Evans: “The last rally describes my year and that was the way it was. There is always the next season…”

The 2019 world champion matched Neuville’s win tally in 2024, but mistakes proved costly for Tanak in a season where consistency was crucial. Now fully settled back at Hyundai after his 2023 campaign with M-Sport, the Estonian will be among the favourites this year.

After Tanak's 2024 season ended ignominiously with Japan crash, he will be eager to come back firing for Hyundai

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Tanak’s Japan heartbreak handed Toyota regular Evans victory in a finale that elevated the Welshman to runner-up in the championship for a fourth time. He is expected to be a factor in the title battle again in 2025 and has earmarked the areas where he needs to improve.

“I actually think there was quite a bit missing, especially on the rougher gravel rallies, and that was the biggest Achilles’ heel, so that side of the job needs to improve quite a bit,” reckons Evans. “That will be the main focus for 2025.”

The 36-year-old is also hopeful that a lighter GR Yaris Rally1 without hybrid could play into his hands. “I definitely feel that if it takes a step in the direction of agility towards the 2021 car, it could be nicer for us drivers,” adds Evans. “Of course, we will have a bit less power, which we are less happy about, but I think as a package it should be OK.”

"With Kalle there I think Elfyn can be much stronger in 2025. He can be back in the fight for the championship"
Jari-Matti Latvala

Evans was Toyota’s team leader in 2024. That hampered his ability to show his best, according to team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

“I think for Elfyn when there is another driver fighting for the title it is good, as it means he doesn’t have the pressure on his shoulders,” points out Latvala. “With Kalle there I think Elfyn can be much stronger in 2025. He can be back in the fight for the championship.”

Unlike Rovanpera, Neuville, Tanak and Evans, Adrien Fourmaux is yet to taste victory in the WRC. But the fact that Hyundai’s new signing is part of this list indicates how impressive the Frenchman was during a breakout 2024 in M-Sport’s Ford.

His run to five podiums earned a lucrative move to the factory Hyundai squad as the team’s third full-time driver, where Fourmaux will now be expected to regularly challenge for podiums. The 29-year-old has already made a strong start to life in sky blue and orange, quickly gelling with the i20 N to defeat Rovanpera in last month’s Rallye National Hivernal du Devoluy.

“The main goal is to try to get my first victory,” he says. “We were close in 2024. I think it can come but I will not force it. I will do my job and then we will see.”

Toyota versus Hyundai battle set to reach new heights

Contributions from Ogier and Evans were key in helping Toyota to claim a last-gasp constructors' title in 2024

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The battle for the manufacturers’ title went to a whole new level in 2024, with the championship decided on the final stage of the season as Toyota sensationally snatched the honours away from long-time leader Hyundai. And it seems that the desire to be the WRC’s best marque will reach new heights in 2025, with both marques upping the ante. Each has changed its strategy to try to claim the crown.

Toyota has expanded its line-up from two to four full-time drivers, boosted by Rovanpera’s return and the signing of rising star and 2024 WRC2 champion Sami Pajari, the Finn joining his compatriot, Evans and Takamoto Katsuta as a full-time contender.

At some rallies, including the Monte Carlo curtain-raiser, Toyota will deploy five cars. Eight-time world champion Ogier is set for another partial campaign after completing 10 events last year, while the GR Yaris has also undergone upgrades in its fourth year of competition.

“We want to go for both titles,” Latvala explains. “It is interesting now that Hyundai for the first time will have three full-time drivers, so their team is also stronger. I think for the championship it is good that there are more cars.”

Hyundai is still smarting from losing what would have been a third manufacturers’ title last year. Instead of running a third car shared by multiple crews, it has opted to sign Fourmaux to drive the entry on a full-time basis. And the introduction of a fourth car on selected events is not out of the question, with last year’s third-car drivers Dani Sordo, Andreas Mikkelsen and Esapekka Lappi the favourites for the slot.

Hyundai is also expected to debut a highly revised version of its i20 N after deploying four homologation jokers, although this car isn’t ready in time for Monte Carlo.

“First and foremost the major target for us will be to fight back and hope to have revenge on the manufacturers’ championship, so that is going to be his [Fourmaux’s] mission,” reckons Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul. “I want to keep on dreaming for a fourth car, but I prefer to plan for three and if we can enter a fourth one at some point, then happy days.”

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Fourmaux has an important role to play in helping Hyundai defeat Toyota in the manufacturers' standings

Photo by: Vincent Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport