Kalle Rovanpera, the world rally champion, finished fourth in Croatia’s asphalt roads after a difficult event. He struggled with a lack of outright pace on Friday and suffered a wheel failure, which caused him to lose more than two minutes when he hit the same pothole on stage 2 as his Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier.
Rovanpera’s Struggle with Car Set-Up
Rovanpera struggled to find the sweet spot in his GR Yaris at the start of the rally, which affected his confidence and pace on Friday morning. He reeled off four stage wins on Saturday to climb up the leaderboard after nailing the car set-up. After coming through a tense head-to-head with Ogier to secure fourth place, Rovanpera said that he needs to prepare better on the set-up side and start rallies with the right car to avoid such issues.
Rovanpera Hopeful for Future Wins
Despite the lack of victories, Rovanpera is hopeful that he will be challenging for wins soon. Although his last win was in October 2020 in New Zealand, where he clinched the world title, he is only a point behind his teammates Ogier and Elfyn Evans, who are tied at the top of the championship standings. Rovanpera believes that he can get good points once he starts to be on his pace and have a complete weekend.
Toyota Boss’ View on Rovanpera’s Performance
Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala believes that Rovanpera’s “spark” was back in Croatia after a difficult start to the season. Latvala understands that winning the championship can reduce a driver’s hunger, but he thinks that Rovanpera found his spark in Croatia. Toyota has headed to Sardinia to conduct its pre-event test for the next round of the championship in Portugal next month.
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