At Dévoluy, Kalle Rovanperä prepares for Monte-Carlo but also his full-time return

An “unmissable” event in December in recent years, the Rally Hivernal du Dévoluy is used to welcoming great people among its participants. Indeed, this escapade in the Hautes-Alpes is one of the last opportunities for the teams involved in WRC to prepare in “competition” for the Monte-Carlo Rally, which opens the world championship season each year (January 23-26, 2025).

This 9th edition of the event demonstrates its importance for manufacturers with the presence of some big names such as:Adrien fourmaux, who takes the opportunity to continue to acclimatize to his Hyundai i20, or Kalle Rovanperä, driving the 2025 version of the Yaris for the first time.

Rovanperä in discovery mode

It was therefore on a Rally1 without a hybrid system that the double world champion made his first outings on the snowy roads this weekend. As a reminder, the FIA ​​has declared the end of hybridization introduced in 2022 which has never made the grid happy, with most competitors considering it too expensive and unreliable.

Inevitably, the presence of the Finn attracted people to the roadside and to the assistance where he was one of the most popular protagonists. He lent himself to the game of autographs and photos.

© Loïc Rocci

First with Hankook

Still on the work plan for the 2025 season, Kalle Rovanperä got a first idea of ​​the Hankook tires, the new exclusive supplier of the WRC after the departure of Pirelli. It was therefore not a question of playing the times but of carrying out some tests, even the most wacky ones like the snow tires mounted on dry. The aim was to better understand the car, the tires and the two together.

This allowed Toyota and his driver to establish benchmarks with the new rubber and see how it reacts while the collaboration between the WRC and Pirelli has been very controversial.

 

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With Loïc Rocci

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