Rally leader Rovanpera on why he’s “uncomfortable” but fast in WRC Finland so far

Kalle Rovanperä has explained the factors behind new speed that elevated the Toyota driver to the lead of a World Rally Championship gravel event for the first time in almost a year.

The two-time world champion has been renowned for his impressive pace on loose surface rallies particularly when the conditions become slippery, having racked up 13 of his 16 WRC wins on gravel.

“Obviously it has been a long time since we have been able to do it on gravel, so obviously a good feeling,” Rovanpera told Autosport.com.

Rovanpera, yet to win his home round of the WRC, has stated that he is adopting an “all out approach” this weekend. But when asked about his performance he admitted that there have been a number of factors behind his speed which hasn’t come easily.

“We definitely optimised everything in the test [before the rally] as good as we can. I tried to work on the driving [style] a bit and obviously I’m going for it, even if I don’t feel so comfortable.

“It is not usually the way I do things. Usually when I’m comfortable I’m as fast as I can be but now I just need to go through the uncomfortable side, there seems to be no other option this year.

“It seems to be working but it is not the best but obviously we will try to keep it up.

“I think it is both the setup [of the car] and adapting myself at the same time [has been the biggest change since Estonia].

While pleased to be back at the top of the leaderboard, Rovanpera is aware that this rally is likely to be decided by fine margins, with crews expecting more wet weather across Saturday’s eight stages. 

Finding speed this season hasn’t been easy

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

In Estonia two weeks ago, Rovanpera finished a lonely fourth in an event he has previously won three times. It was at this point he offered up a blunt admission regarding his gravel form plight at the end of the rally.

“If we cannot do it in Estonia we cannot do it anywhere else,” said Rovanpera, two weeks ago.

However, now in Finland, Rovanpera has returned to the top of the timesheets, winning two stages on Friday — which is twice the amount he achieved across the entire rally in Estonia. 

Rovanpera moved into the lead on stage three and remained at the head of the field to end Friday 4.9s ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Interestingly Rovanpera’s speed has come despite the Finn admitting that he hasn’t been comfortable behind the wheel, and at times felt he was “all over the place.” in tricky wet conditions. 

This year, the Finn has struggled to adapt to the WRC’s new gravel tyres supplied by Hankook, which has been a running theme this summer. Interestingly, the 24-year-old’s only win this year arrived on asphalt when he dominated the field in the Canary Islands in April.