Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT's Rovanperä set to become youngest WRC champion

MANILA: At the age of just 22 years and one day, Kalle Rovanperä is likely to become the youngest-ever FIA World Rally Championship champion after the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR WRT) driver and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen won Rally New Zealand held from September 29 to October 2.

Rovanperä, who won the championship in only his third season participating at the highest level of rallying, is more than five years younger than Colin McRae, who set the previous record in 1995.

In the first year of the WRC's new hybrid Rally regulations, Rovanperä has established himself as the benchmark driver. His victory in New Zealand is his sixth of the season driving the GR Yaris Rally Hybrid.

With two rallies left, he has already won the championship after holding the lead in the standings ever since winning round two in Sweden in February.

His title is the fourth in as many years and the seventh WRC triumph for a Toyota driver. Rovanperä is the first Finnish driver to claim the title in 20 years and the first to do it while operating a locally produced automobile.

Rovanperä's performance in 2022 has been characterized by exceptional speed in challenging weather, which was also essential to his triumph in New Zealand, where the smooth gravel roads were hosting the WRC for the first time in ten years.

He excelled on a soggy Saturday, his 22nd birthday, to take over the lead and develop a lead of almost a minute after finishing the longest day of the rally on Friday in mixed circumstances in fourth place.

Rovanperä maintained his lead before the rally's final Power Stage despite the additional rain that fell on Sunday's last four stages. He just needed to place in the top four there to get the two additional bonus points he needed for the title, but he still set the fastest time, making it seven times this season that he has won the Power Stage.

On their fourth start of the 2022 season, Sébastien Ogier, the defending champion and driver for TGR WRT, and co-driver Benjamin Veillas finished one-two for the team. They performed a crucial role for their teammates by stealing points from their opponents for the title early in the rally when they were a part of a tight four-way battle for the lead.

The team extended their manufacturers' championship lead to 81 points with 104 points still up for grabs thanks to the one-two overall finish and the first and third quickest times from the Power Stage.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Founder Akio Toyoda observed where the skills of the young driver originated.

“A journalist asked me the other day why Kalle is this strong, and my prompt answer was ‘because he loves donuts.’ I think those words came out because I remember very well that Kalle did donuts during one of the Power Stages before, and I believe he is strong because he always enjoys driving.

I really thank him for driving and enjoying the GR Yaris Rally Hybrid and becoming world champion. I hope we can have a place to celebrate somewhere and enjoy donuts together.”

Meanwhile, Rovanperä expressed: “The biggest feeling right now is that it’s quite a big relief. We have had such a good season, then a few difficult rallies and now finally we could do it. I want to say a big thanks to the team who made such a fast and reliable car for this season which meant we could just enjoy the driving.

Also, in the more difficult moments they were always believing in us and supporting us. I don’t think about the age too much but it’s still special to know we could achieve this. It means a lot, to become champion is the only goal we ever had in this sport. I was actually a bit more nervous on Friday than I was today: Then we needed to push hard to stay in the fight, but today we could just enjoy it.”

The WRC season's concluding round, the Rally of Spain, will take place from October 20 to 23. The event, which is based in Salou to the south of Barcelona, is well-known for its slick, swift asphalt roads that have features comparable to those of a racing circuit.

Photos from Toyota Gazoo Racing

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