Rovanperä last competed at the beginning of August in Rally Finland, but now the Finnish driver makes his return in Rally Chile.
Rally Finland ended in disappointment for Rovanperä, as he went off the road in the penultimate stage, forcing him to retire from a commanding lead.
“A new reset after Rally Finland, so definitely a good feeling to be here again,” Rovanperä said.
However, Rovanperä predicted that Rally Chile will be challenging.
“The stages and everything look pretty nice. It’s not going to be easy to manage the whole tyre package, and I think it’s going to be a challenging rally,” Rovanperä anticipated.
Rovanperä enjoys the gravel rally in Chile, although it’s not among his top favourites.
“I like this rally because there’s actually a nice flow, and the stages are really nice at times. Quite fast and flowing, with a lot of height differences. There’s a nice character to the roads. The road surface is so rough on the tyres, so probably you can’t go flat out from start to finish on every loop, which isn’t always the most fun way to drive. But that’s how it is.”
Toyota has faced difficulties recently. The team struggled in both Rally Finland and Acropolis Rally in Greece, and this may have tipped the championship battles in Hyundai’s favour. Still, Rovanperä’s goal is clear.
“It definitely hasn’t been the best few rallies for the team. We just need to do what we always try to do at the rallies: try to score the maximum points we can, and that’s the only thing we can do to help the team,” Rovanperä explained.
Toyota doesn’t have fond memories of last year’s Rally Chile. Although the team secured the manufacturers’ championship, there wasn’t much else to celebrate. Elfyn Evans was the best Toyota driver, finishing third, while Rovanperä came in fourth.
“Last year was a big mess-up from the whole team. So if we don’t do that this year, for sure it’s already much better,” Rovanperä smiled.
