The Kalle Rovanperä phenomenon in figures

Only 23 years old, and already two world championship titles WRC for Kalle Rovanperä! Despite his very young age, especially in the middle of rally, the Finn has already left his mark on the history of the World Rally Championship.

Son of former driver Harri Rovanperä, who notably raced for Peugeot and Mitsubishi in the 2000s (with a victory at the 2001 Swedish Rally), Kalle Rovanperä was immersed in the world of rallying from an early age. To the point of driving his first rally car… at the age of eight!

After having cut his teeth in the national championships in the Baltic countries, Kalle Rovanperä is committed to ERC (European Rally Championship) from the age of 16, before moving directly to WRC2. He became champion of the discipline in 2019 and obtained a seat in the premier category in 2020, within the team Toyota.

From then on, the young Finn continued to break records of precocity that were completely new in the history of the WRC: in 2020, at the Swedish Rally, he became the youngest driver on a WRC podium at the age of 19, 4 months and 16 days, beating the old record previously held by Evgeny Novikov by more than two years!

The following year was that of confirmation: in Estonia, he won his first WRC rally at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 17 days, erasing Jari-Matti Latvala's record from the shelves. It is in 2022 that Kalle Rovanperä will realize its full potential. Thanks to a fantastic season (6 victories in 13 rallies), the Toyota driver becomes the youngest world champion in history, the day after his 22nd birthday, shattering Colin McRae's old record by more than five years!

© Nikos Katikis / DPPI

In 2023, Kalle Rovanperä managed to retain his world crown: during the penultimate round of the season, in Central Europe, the Finn took advantage of Elfyn Evans' exit from the track to win his second coronation, at end of a year punctuated – as we write these lines, before the Rally of Japan – by three victories and seven podiums.

Kalle Rovanperä in figures*

63 WRC rallies
11 wins
20 podiums
171 special victories
734 point
Youngest WRC world champion at the age of 22 years and 1 day
Youngest winner of a WRC rally at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 17 days
Youngest driver on a WRC podium at the age of 19 years, 4 months and 16 days

(*stopped as of October 30, 2023, after the Central Europe Rally)

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