Precocity in WRC, happy or bad omen?

Since his birth on October 1, 2000, Kalle Rovanperä waited just 7 days before securing his first World Rally Championship victory (WRC). Written like that, it seems like a lot, but it only represents 20 years, 9 months and 17 days! This record precocity, achieved on the forest special stages of Estonia this Sunday, July 18, recalls other destinies of young wolves, more or less happy.

The Finn's meteoric journey is reminiscent of his compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala. Not yet nicknamed "Jean-Marie" by the French followers of the World Cup, the hope coming from the cold first stood out on the (partly melted) Swedish snow in 2008. Present in the WRC since 2005, the Ford representative is promised a great future. After all, his progression seems logical (first podium in Ireland in 2007, 10 scratches in Wales) and this success should give him the confidence necessary to measure himself against the current reference, Sébastien Loeb.

However, the rest of his season will be a foretaste of his decade. The very good alternates with the frankly bad, that is to say repeated exits from the track. These guilty faults will lead Malcolm Wilson to relegate the Finnish nugget to team B, Stobart, until the will-o'-the-wisp calms down at the end of the 2008 campaign. 

Despite a real love for his sport and undeniable qualities behind the wheel, Jari-Matti Latvala never became a sufficiently serious threat to the ogre Loeb, then was quickly dominated by his teammate Sébastien Ogier at Volkswagen. Certainly, three times vice-world champion (2010, 2014, 2015), that's not nothing on a CV, but the followers expected better.

You have to believe that youth is a Nordic affair. The top 5 of the earliest rallymen is monopolized by four Finns and a Norwegian. In the last century, two men left their mark on the rally. Although he never won a coronation, Henri Toivonen was undoubtedly worthy of one.

Henri Toivonen (Opel) at the 1982 Acropolis Rally. © DPPI

Aged 24 years, 2 months and 25 days, he won the prestigious 1980 RAC at the wheel of a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, ahead of the favorites. Still in the game under the Opel colors despite a limited program at the World Cup, his rise to power was cut short at the bend of this cursed Corsican bend on May 2, 1986, while he was leading the Rally of 10 Bends with his Lancia Delta S000 Groupe b.

Nine years ago, “Mister Maximum Attack” splashed the Rally of Portugal from his vantage point behind the wheel of a Fiat 124 Abarth. Markku Alén, at 24 years, 5 months and 6 days old, was shaping up to be a future great, and a look at the WRC record does not do his career justice.

Twice runner-up, Markku Alén had the fault of being too fast. Indeed, his 1978 season was awarded an FIA Drivers' Cup title, and not a World Champion, as would be the case... from 1979!

Markku Alén and his Fiat 131 Abarth. © DPPI

Behind this legendary duo, it is almost the desert. Mads Ostberg once took on the role of future Norwegian terror at the turn of the 2010s, which the 2012 Rally of Portugal confirmed (24 years, 5 months and 21 days). This success will not have the same flavor as a rally acquired with the strength of the right foot, because the logical winner Mikko Hirvonen was excluded for a non-compliant clutch during checks in the parc ferme.

Le costume s’est ensuite avéré mail taillé. Non pas en raison d’un manque de talent, mais de circonstances extérieures rarement adéquates. Il espère sortir de l’ornière des teams privés en rejoignant Malcolm Wilson et M-Sport pour 2013… au moment où Ford retire son soutien financier. Un an plus tard, il rejoint Citroën pour ce qui sera sa meilleure saison comptable (5e) alors que les Chevrons se concentrent davantage sur le WTCC. La fenêtre se referme définitivement après un nouvel essai avec Citroën en 2018 et une saison partielle peu satisfaisante (deux podiums).

Mads Ostberg and two windmills, including that of his Ford Fiesta in Portugal 2012. © DPPI

In any case, this is a record that the two most famous Sébastiens in the rally missed by a wide margin. Sébastien Ogier is in 14th place (Portugal 2010 at 26 years, 5 months and 13 days) and Sébastien Loeb is only 27th (Germany 2002 at 28 years, 5 months and 2 days). The adage is that talent does not wait for years, unlike the maturity and mentality of a champion...