Kovalainen won the MCSC Rally Highland Masters rally competition in Japan on Sunday, securing the Japanese Rally Championship title at the same time.
Kovalainen and his co-driver Sae Kitagawa claimed victory in dominant fashion. He left Japan’s Norihiko Katsuta, who finished second, trailing by 30.3 seconds.
Kovalainen has now won the Japanese Rally Championship for the third time in his career, having also celebrated titles in 2022 and 2023.
Kovalainen turned 44 on Sunday – he could hardly have imagined a better birthday.
“You don’t often get days like I had today – birthday, rally win and championship all in one day” Kovalainen wrote on Instagram.
“fter all the health issues last year and some technical problems this year it has been a remarkable comeback from everyone at Rally Team AICELLO! I didn’t believe we could win the title a month ago when we’d just retired twice in a row but the last 2 events have gone perfectly for us. Grateful to taste success once more here in Japan, and big thank you to everyone supporting our team,” Kovalainen continued.
Next, Kovalainen will take part in the Rally Japan, which will be held at the beginning of November. In the meantime, he will also have a bit of a holiday.
“WRC next month. A visit to Mexico City in between,” Kovalainen added.
In recent years, Kovalainen has focused on building his rally career. In addition to competing in the Japanese Rally Championship, he has also taken part in Rally Japan several times. However, Kovalainen is best known for his career in Formula One.
