There couldn’t have been a more fitting way for Kalle Rovanpera to rewrite history as the World Rally Championship’s youngest ever title winner. After uncharacteristic errors over the preceding rounds in Belgium and Greece, rallying’s new flying Finn reproduced a ‘greatest hits’ of his stunning 2022 campaign on Rally New Zealand to claim the world title on his 22nd birthday weekend in the land of the long white cloud.
It’s a feat unlikely to be beaten, since Rovanpera eclipsed the late 1995 world champion Colin McRae’s benchmark as the WRC’s youngest king by five years. Not only did Rovanpera write himself into the history books, but his success ended a 20-year wait for a Finnish world champion.
Rovanpera has made the phrase ‘Full Send’ his own. It’s painted on the back of his crash helmet, it’s all over his merchandise, and in New Zealand ‘Full Send Kalle’ was back as he etched himself into rallying folklore. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were again at their devastating best for Toyota as they pulled off their familiar party trick of being untouchable in treacherous wet conditions. It’s been key to setting up wins in Croatia, Portugal, Kenya and Estonia,
