Kalle Rovanperä to leave WRC to focus his career on circuit racing

A few days before the 12th^e At the first event on the calendar in Central Europe (October 15-19), Kalle Rovanperä revealed what his future holds. This question regularly came to the fore as the end of the year approached. Would Kalle dive back in 2026 for the final year of Rally1? Was his motivation still high enough to line up for one more season? The answer is no. After the rally of Saudi Arabia (November 26-29), he will end his career in WRC to devote himself to a different project. This decision was not easy, but I had been thinking about it for some time., he explains. Having already accomplished so much in this discipline at my age, I began to consider the possibilities available to me and the other challenges I would like to take on. I believe this change is the right choice to pursue my next dreams and challenges. »

Double world champion (2022 and 2023) and already holder of 17 victories in WRC, the 25-year-old has not chosen the easy way since he has decided to embark on a new career on the circuit. Without specifying how high he hopes to climb, Kalle will tackle the Super Formula championship next year, which is the highest category in Japan and whose cars are the closest to F1 in terms of performance.

F1, WEC…Kalle doesn't hold anything back

When revealing his next direction, Rovanperä did not talk about a goal, but if he wants to one day have a chance in F1 or WEC he will have to prove himself quickly. It's something special to have the support of the Toyota Gazoo Racing to make my debut and be able to race in Super Formula, he explains. I know it's a big leap into the unknown coming from rallying, but I'm really looking forward to it. With TGR, we have a good plan to prepare ourselves in the best possible way and try to get the most out of it. Ever since I started driving as a kid, my dream was to become a WRC driver, win an event, and secure a title. To have achieved all of this at such a young age is an incredible feeling, and I want to give a huge thank you to TGR-WRT: we've achieved great things together, and it's been a pleasure working with such a great team. We still have three rallies to go, and we'll give it our all and keep fighting until the end. »

New chapter pic.twitter.com/3KU6NaXwhu

— Kalle Rovanperä (@KalleRovanpera) October 9, 2025

With Jonne Halttunen his co-pilot there are actually 3 of them^e of the championship with only 21 points behind Sébastien Ogier. Now free of this announcement that weighed on him, the Finn will be able to fully invest in the remaining races to leave the WRC on the best possible note. For its part, the team will have to think about his replacement. The lineup will not be announced until the day after the Rally of Japan (November 6-9), but it already seems certain that Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari will compete for the entire 2026 season. Sébastien Ogier has not revealed anything, but why wouldn't he sign up for a few rounds? With this squad, logically, Oliver Solberg would join the TGR ranks in place of Kalle Rovanperä.

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