Kalle Rovanperä: “We are in the same situation as last year” in Croatia

New season and for now, same scenario. After two hard-fought first rallies – especially the first, in Monte-Carlo – a young Finn is leading the world rally championship. Kalle Rovanperä will return to the roads next week during the Rally Croatia, with the desire to consolidate its place in the general, and above all, not to repeat the same mistakes as in the past.

Comfortable on both asphalt and ice? 

Despite the introduction of the new hybrid era in WRC this year, the young Finnish prodigy Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) seems to have not really been blunted during the first events of the season. Regular at Monte-Carle (4th) then victorious in Sweden, Rovanperä attacks the first real test of the season on asphalt in a scenario that he has already experienced in 2021. To better understand it? In any case, it will be difficult to do worse than last year, when the Finn was forced to retire after an impressive exit from the track on the first special stage of the event.

“We are in the same situation as last year, leading the championship in Croatia, and I hope we can do better this time, explains the Finn. It will be a big challenge for us because we didn't have the opportunity to experience most of the stages last year, but we have been in this situation before with less experience than our rivals and I will do my best to manage. »

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This season, not only does the 21-year-old driver continue to gain valuable experience, but he also places himself in a more comfortable position as championship leader – 14 points ahead of Thierry Neuville. Especially since the GR Yaris Rally1 seems to be better and better understood by the team, in addition to being encouragingly reliable.

“The testing has been positive and I think there has been good progress with the car, explains Rovanperä. Hopefully it will go well at the rally too. I was waiting to get back in the car for Croatia and that’s always a good sign! We've only had two rallies but it's always good to have a few good points at the start of the season. »

Today was the turning point @KalleRovanpera and @JonneHalttunen to rack up the kilometers in our #CroatiaRally test 🇭🇷💪#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris # Rally1 #WRC pic.twitter.com/vq6ikYdNv5

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) April 6, 2022

Kalle Rovanperä can always count on the experience of his team manager and compatriot, Jari-Matti Latvala, to face this Croatian Rally, somewhat enigmatic for the young driver:

“The big challenge in Croatia is that the asphalt surface often changes during the stages and the level of grip differs a lot, explains the boss of TGR. I think this surprised a lot of riders last year and those coming back for the second time will know what to expect. Kalle [Rovanperä] didn't do as many kilometers last year but knows it's important to continue scoring points! »

“Until now we have mainly focused on the reliability and functioning of the hybrid system, but now we can really work on optimizing the settings of the car and trying to make it even stronger. »

After a shakedown scheduled for next Thursday in the capital, Zagreb, as well as an honorary start in the evening, the Croatia Rally will begin its journey on Friday with the longest part of the event, made up of two loops of four special stages. Most of Saturday will take place on a more or less identical surface as the day before, southwest of Zagreb, before concluding with a final day of racing, north of the capital.