Rovanperä winner in Sweden and new championship leader

When Harri Rovanperä won the Rally from Sweden at the wheel of the Peugeot 206 WRC In February 2001, little Kalle was only four months old. Twenty-one years later, the son also added the name Rovanperä to the list of winners of the only ice event of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) indeed competed in a rally free of any errors and scored his third WRC victory at only 21 years old! " I am very happy ! I didn't expect to achieve such a result, especially opening the track on Friday. The car was perfect throughout the rally, I was very comfortable behind the wheel. »

Double podium from our Flying Finns in Sweden! 🇫🇮🇫🇮🤗#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris #WRC #RallySweden pic.twitter.com/32F1NgvFwy

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) February 27, 2022

Although usually reserved, Kalle Rovanperä explained his restraint when leaving the cockpit after the finish. “ This week has been very hard for the entire Ukrainian population. I don't really feel like celebrating my victory. I just want to hope that Ukrainians maintain hope in these terrible times. »

The podium is completed by Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Esapekka Lappi (Toyota). The last stages will not have brought any change to the hierarchy of the event. The Belgian saves valuable points for his Hyundai Motorsport team, which lost Ott Tänak very early in the competition, Oliver Solberg (6th) having suffered mechanical problems on Saturday evening.

“After Monte-Carlo, there was a lot of work to do at the factory. We are on the right path, I want to thank the whole team. There is still a lot of work to be done but there is improvement”, Thierry Neuville said positively.

For his first rally for a factory team since the end of the 2019 season, Esapekka Lappi fulfilled the mission that Toyota Gazoo Racing had set for him. Third, the Finn sees the end of the tunnel marked by several poor performances with M-Sport Ford. In 2021, he was even without a regular wheel in the World Rally Championship!

“If I had taken risks, yes, second place was doable, but I am already extremely happy with this podium, which was the initial objective, explained Esapekka Lappi. I had no problems with the car all weekend. »

In terms of the Drivers' championship, Kalle Rovanperä leaves Sweden with full suitcases. The 21-year-old takes the lead in the general classification.

Perceived as a favorite to win the title thanks to his two runner-up seasons in 2020 and 2021 behind Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) was more than disappointing (abandonment). The Welshman made a mistake in the first Sunday special when he was engaged in a fight with Kalle Rovanperä for the lead of the event. Front damaged in a wall of snow, the Toyota GR Yaris hybrid could not continue like this.

His boss, Jari-Matti Latvala, tried to defend him by shifting the responsibility to the race management, who had decided to sanction Elfyn Evans during the night from Saturday to Sunday following an eventful end to the 13th special.

Evans-Martin's damaged Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. ©DR

“It was not right that he was penalized 10 seconds. In fact, he did not gain any time at the end of this special (see video below. Editor’s note). He even lost a few seconds going off the track. This decision by the commissioners added pressure to him because Thierry (Neuville) was suddenly on his heels in the general classification, around 3 seconds behind.

#RallySweden SS15 and the last corner: @ElfynEvans went spectacularly over the snowbank❄❄ #WRCLive
????: @SaariJarno pic.twitter.com/OPEv99P5pg

— Jarno Saari (@SaariJarno) February 26, 2022

This small gap forced him to attack on Sunday morning. He made a small mistake, losing his rear axle and sliding. Contact with the snowdrift caused three spins. » Elfyn Evans only has four units in the Drivers' championship, those entered in Monte-Carlo at the end of January. 

Triumphant in Monte-Carlo thanks to Sébastien Loeb, M-Sport Ford suddenly fell into line on the Nordic ice. Only Gus Greensmith and Jonas Andersson place a Ford Puma hybrid in the top 10 (5th); Craig Breen-Paul Nagle had disappeared from the first stage following an exit from the road whileAdrien fourmaux and Alexandre Coria were prevented from starting the final day due to mechanical problems.

In WRC2, defending champion Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) won with his new co-driver Torstein Eriksen. The Norwegian defeated his compatriot Ole Christian Veiby (Volkswagen). No Frenchman was entered in the category. Finally, the Junior WRC began its 2022 season. In a category which only attracted six rally hopefuls, Briton Jon Armstrong beat Finn Lauri Joona aboard the new Ford Fiesta Rally3.

Final general classification:

Drivers’ Championship standings:

Find it in AUTO issue 2352hebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, analysis of the WRC in Sweden by our special correspondent.