Kalle Rovanperä: “In Ypres I want to apply the same tactics as in Finland”

L’an dernier, l’équipe Toyota n’avait pas connu la meilleure des préparations. Est-ce que vous avez plus de certitudes cette saison ?

Ypres was a new destination and we didn't know what to expect or what kind of adjustments we needed to make to be fast. Under these conditions, our approach had not been so bad. Building on this experience, I hope we present ourselves with fewer questions.

Are there points of comparison with Croatia where you won?

Not really. Belgian roads are very different. Here you face a lot of very short turns, crossovers and ropes where you have to dive. Setting up the car to perform well in these conditions is nothing like special stages where the objective is to maintain speed on successive curves. I really liked the profile of Croatia. Ypres isn't necessarily the most fun round.

Mathematically you can be champion here. Are you considering this possibility?

No. This is not the best place to do it.

What inspires you about the course with its many new features?

In the end, it doesn't really make a difference to me. THE rally Despite everything, it resembles what we discovered last year, so these new stages or these times in opposite directions are not a problem.

What will your approach be for this event?

My reasoning is quite similar to that adopted in Finland. I want to score big points. I hope that we will ride on generally dry roads, which will allow us to have fun.

Since there is one less round on the calendar, couldn't you take a little more risk to try to win?

No. Normally, I always try to impose myself. Even if the conditions are difficult or tricky, that doesn't change anything in my desire to win, but here it's different. I want to make my life easier and not go off the road aiming for first place. I don't want to see my lead diminish.