At the start of August, Rovanperä at last secured the first win of his career in Rally Finland, propelling himself to an entirely new level in the fight for the World Rally Championship title.
With the victory, Rovanperä rose to second place in the drivers’ standings, just three points behind his team-mate Elfyn Evans, who currently leads the championship.
This means the Finn is once again fully in the hunt for the title this season.
Rovanperä was asked a direct question about how he intends to approach the rest of the season, but his answer was very Finnish: short and to the point.
“Just try to keep going like this – get a good feeling and stay in the fight,” Rovanperä replied.
In Finland, Rovanperä also took the top spot in both the Power Stage and the Super Sunday classification. The points gained there could still play a major role in the title battle later in the season.
“Luckily, we were pushing hard because the points we got were amazing. So we did a good job,” Rovanperä admitted.
Rovanperä’s first victory in Finland came only on his fifth attempt, and it sent the whole Toyota team into an emotional high.
“I think many people have been quite emotional. It’s been a win we needed to get. We’ve had some bad luck before and all sorts of things, so I think everybody was really nervous about it. And finally, we got it,” Rovanperä smiled.
