Brilliant Rovanpera continues to pull up trees
If the World Rally Championship had its own dictionary, then Kalle Rovanpera’s crushing victory last weekend at Rally Estonia would be epitomised as the definition of ‘masterclass’. The new flying Finn is enjoying an extraordinary run of form, defying belief by the relative ease displayed in overcoming the toughest challenges the WRC can muster. Estonia’s turbulent weather did its level best to make life as difficult as possible, but a glimpse inside the Rovanpera Toyota cockpit and the timing screen would have you believe that this was an everyday drive. Last weekend’s fifth win from seven events this year even left his Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala lost for words to explain how this 21-year-old, who he’s already described as a “miracle kid”, is able to drive at a level his contemporaries appear unable to reach.
It was perhaps poignant that the latest round of the WRC, which is fast becoming the Kalle Rovanpera Show, arrived at Rally Estonia, the epicentre of his rapid rise to the forefront of rallying’s top tier. It has been 12 months since that breakthrough win on Estonian gravel, where a new
