The 57-year-old Finnish rally veteran will be revisiting the event held in the vicinity of Leon, the traditional setting for Rally Mexico, though the event is not part of this year’s World Rally Championship calendar.
In an exciting twist, Rally of Nations will feature both individual and team competitions. Rovanperä will team up with German rally veteran Niki Schelle, with both drivers piloting Toyota GR Yarises, commonly used in national GR Yaris cups.
Rally of Nations employs a co-efficient scoring system for the team competition. In practice, this means that drivers using faster and more powerful cars do not have as many points available to them.
The event boasts an impressive lineup, including Mads Östberg, the 2021 winner, competing in a Skoda Fabia Rally2 for the Scandinavian team alongside Dennis Rådström in a GR Yaris.
France fields the event’s most distinguished team with Didier Auriol and Julien Ingrassia, the latter an eight-time world champion co-driver for Sebastien Ogier, taking the wheel of Mitsubishi Lancers. Despite Ingrassia’s relatively limited driving experience, his participation is eagerly anticipated.
The rally promises fierce competition across stages familiar from Rally Mexico, commencing with the iconic city stage in Guanajuato on Friday.
“Welcoming names like Rovanperä, Auriol, Ingrassia, Østberg, (Max) McRae, to name just a few, is really important for us. We have fantastic drivers and teams coming from right around the world to do battle on what we believe to be the world’s best stages this week,” Rally of Nations boss Gilles Spitalier rejoices.
Mexico hosted the World Rally Championship last year, but it did not secure a spot in this year’s WRC calendar. Rally of Nations is organized by the same team behind Rally Mexico.
“Like we did in 2022, we will use this rally to build more innovation and evolution, so we can come back to the World Rally Championship calendar even stronger,” Spitalier plans.
The Rally of Nations Guanajuato starts on Friday and concludes on Sunday.
