History-making Rovanpera seals WRC title with New Zealand victory
A fastest time on Sunday’s first stage set the 22-year-old on his way to the title with rounds in Spain and Japan to spare - a feat that means he replaces the late Colin McRae as the youngest ever champion of the series.
On the same weekend that Rovanpera celebrated his birthday, he capped off Sunday in fairy-tale fashion by netting maximum points on the end-of-rally Power Stage to complete the Auckland-based event 34.6 seconds clear of the returning Sebastien Ogier, who made it a Toyota one-two.
The performance was the return to form Rovanpera had been aiming for after a mini-barren spell following a crash on Ypres Rally in Belgium and a four-point haul on last month’s Acropolis Rally in Greece.
The only person who stood a mathematical chance of delaying the inevitable was Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, but 15 seconds in time penalties for hybrid-related boost infringements across the weekend, and an unruly i20 N Rally1 that gave the Estonian little confidence to attack the North Island roads, made the 2019 champion’s task all the more difficult.
“It’s quite a big relief after such a good season and finally we are here,” said Rovanpera at the end of his 30th WRC start. “It was a small wait after a few difficult rallies but the biggest thanks goes to the team – they made this rocket this year. Even after all the difficult rallies, they were believing in us and giving us all the support.”
Rovanpera’s boss Jari-Matti Latvala labelled him a “superhero” and spoke of his pride that his home country could finally celebrate the fact it has a new champion, and someone many expect to go on and dominate for many seasons to come.
“It’s really important what Kalle has done,” said an emotional Latvala. “First of all, it’s amazing for a 22-year-old to be breaking all the records and taking the Championship title. At the same time, it is so important for Finland because it has been 20 years and that’s a very long time.”
Tanak rounded out the podium places in third and was the first of three consecutive Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars home. The gulf to him and Thierry Neuville – who had another troubled round due to gearbox issues, and time penalties for a similar offence to Tanak’s – was a minute and 10 seconds, with Rally New Zealand debutant Oliver Solberg taking fifth despite having to contend with a misfire.
Those who failed to make it to the finish owing to crashes included the Toyota duo of Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, and M-Sport Ford driver Gus Greensmith. That allowed former Hyundai World Rally driver Hayden Paddon to take sixth overall on his home event and with it the WRC2 victory.
Overall Rally New Zealand classification:
1. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris) 2hr 48min 1.4sec
2. S Ogier / B Veillas (Toyota GR Yaris) +34.6sec
3. O Tänak / M Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N) +48.5sec
4. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N) +1min 58.8sec
5. O Solberg / E Edmondson (Ford Puma) +3min 55.3sec
6. H Paddon / J Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) +10min 3.7sec
Drivers' championship standings (after round 11 of 13):
1. K Rovanperä 237pts
2. O Tänak 173pts
3. T Neuville 144pts
