Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Juha Kankkunen, Miki Biasion, Tommi Makinen and now Kalle Rovanpera all have something in common – they’re back-to-back World Rally champions. This is the latest exclusive club of which 23-year-old Rovanpera can now call himself a signed up member after sealing the 2023 title at the inaugural Central European Rally.
“It sounds quite good – it’s clear that it’s not so easy to do it back to back,” enthused Rovanpera after the finish in Germany.
This championship-clinching triumph wasn’t the emphatic victory and Power Stage domination of 12 months ago at Rally New Zealand, when the Finn became the WRC’s youngest champion. Instead, the rally spoils were claimed by Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Rovanpera’s defeated title rival, Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans, even pinched the Power Stage, which has become one of Kalle’s party tricks.
That aside, the run to second for Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen, which was more than enough to repeat their crown, summed up their season perfectly. There were moments of sheer brilliance in tricky conditions that left jaws on the floor on some of the toughest asphalt stages. Then there was the incredible dose of maturity beyond Rovanpera’s years to know when to push and what is required at any given moment to achieve his goals that has put him a cut above the rest this year.
These two attributes were key to avoiding the pitfalls at the Central European Rally, the WRC’s newest
