Will Kalle Rovanperä dominate the 2023 WRC season?

Facts

Kalle Rovanperä became in 2022 the youngest champion in the history of the WRC, at 22 years and 1 day. A title obtained in style, with a start to the season led at an infernal pace, winning five of the first seven rallies of the year. Halfway through the season, the Finnish prodigy had already killed the suspense for the title. As the new WRC exercise looms with the Rally of Monte-Carlo (January 19-22), we wonder if Kalle Rovanperä will dominate the 2023 WRC season?

Yes, by Gonzalo Forbes

After a period outrageously dominated by Sébastien Loeb et Sébastien Ogier with 17 titles in 18 years, a new era seems to have begun in the WRC. An era led in particular by Kalle Rovanperä, the new strong man in the championship.

The youngest world champion in WRC history at just 22 years and 1 day old, the Finn has a bright future. Season after season, the young kid from Jyväskylä continues to break records for precocity. For this new campaign, he is logically the big favorite for his own succession. It must be said that the elements clearly work in its favor.

Sébastien Ogier désormais dans un rôle de pigiste au sein de Toyota, Kalle Rovanperä se retrouve presque démuni de rivalité si l’on se fie à la précédente campagne. Parmi ses coéquipiers, Elfyn Evans ne semble plus avoir la même compétitivité qu’il y a quelques années alors Takamoto Katsuta parait encore trop juste. Du côté de Hyundai, Thierry Neuville semble plus proche de la fin que du début de sa carrière tandis qu’Esapekka Lappi va progressivement retrouver les sensations de disputer une saison complète et surtout découvrir une nouvelle voiture avec la i20. Enfin chez M-Sport, Ott Tänak appears to be the savior child but the Ford Puma still needs to respond from start to finish, something it was not able to do during the 2022 financial year.

Currently, Kalle Rovanperä has the best car in the field. There is no doubt. And it is difficult to think that both Hyundai and M-Sport were able to reduce the gap during the winter break, especially since the testing days were reduced in preparation for the 2023 season.

After witnessing the domination of the Sebastians for almost 20 years, the WRC is at the dawn of a new period dominated by a single driver. In this case, it is that of Kalle Rovanperä who, at the age of 22, is ready to reign over world rallying as the two tricolors have done over the last two decades.

Will Kalle Rovenperä still dominate in 2023? (Photo Nikos Katikis / DPPI)

No, by Valentin Glo

For Kalle Rovanperä, the hardest part begins. The youngest world champion in the history of the WRC in 2022, the Finn will have to confirm in 2023. And this is never the most obvious, because you have to be able to keep your motivation after having reached the Grail. A statistic illustrates this: among the 19 drivers who have won a title, 10 have never doubled the stake. Kalle also slowed down slightly after a wild start to the exercise.

The native of Jyväskylä (Finland) largely dominated last season, but he himself is aware that the task promises to be more difficult in 2023, because the competition took advantage of the off-season to organize their counter-attack. At M-Sport, Ott Tänak returns as 2019 world champion and above all with newfound confidence thanks to a second part of the season during which he won three victories, including one on the land of the future champion. 

A number of successes acquired in the space of five rallies which represent more than half of his victories in three seasons with an i20 with faulty reliability and to which its adaptation was complicated. At M-Sport, Tänak hopes to find a car that matches his world title ambitions with the Ford Puma.

Beyond the equipment, the Estonian above all got out of the slump into which he had fallen at Hyundai where he never emerged from the dominance of Thierry Neuville. The case of the last Acropolis Rally is the best example when, while Tänak had the opportunity to stay in the title race by winning, the South Korean general staff left victory to the Belgian.

Hyundai also geared up its weapons during the winter. With the departure of the Estonian, Thierry Neuville is now the only leader on board the ship. The latter has finally found a captain in the person of Cyril Abiteboul whose mission will be to guide his troops in a first capacity Pilots by breathing new life. For this, the team will be able to count on the 2023 version of its i20 N Rally1 which we hope to get rid of its reliability problems.

With rivals now separated in the two competing Toyota teams, Kalle Rovanperä will have to be doubly on his guard for this new season.

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