Rovanperä struggled significantly at the beginning of the year. The Finn stated multiple times that the new tyres from WRC’s new supplier Hankook didn’t suit his natural driving style at all.
His first major success only came in April at the WRC rally held in the Canary Islands, which the Finnish champion won in dominant fashion. The rally was run on asphalt in very circuit-like conditions.
Since then, the WRC season has moved to gravel, and the problems familiar from the early season have returned for Rovanperä. Despite his issues, he achieved good results in the rallies of Portugal and Sardinia, but he was never truly in the fight for victory in either event.
Rovanperä admits that the situation still isn’t looking very good.
“Tyre wear is still quite high, and I suspect it’ll be one of our challenges in Greece,” Rovanperä admitted to RallyJournal.com.
The Acropolis Rally, held after Midsummer, is a notoriously tough gravel rally. It’s unlikely to make things easier for Rovanperä.
“In Greece, tyres will definitely wear a lot if you have to push hard,” Rovanperä said.
Toyota didn’t test ahead of the Sardinia rally, but the team will be able to test before Greece. Rovanperä has only one wish for those tests.
“Hopefully we’ll find something in testing that makes the car a bit more agile and easier to drive, so we wouldn’t have to push quite so hard,” Rovanperä hoped.
According to Rovanperä, the issue is such that it has a real impact on his driving.
“You might not need to take more risks, but it just makes it harder to drive fast when the tyres wear so much. Then you just keep losing more and more as the effect multiplies.”
Before the Acropolis Rally, Rovanperä sits third in the drivers’ championship standings, only 20 points behind his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans, who leads the series. The Finn should also benefit from an excellent starting position in Greece, which could help significantly.
