After the concluded season, Rovanperä announced that he would not be competing in all the WRC rallies in 2024. This means that Rovanperä and Halttunen will have less work in rallying for the upcoming season.
Rovanperä, who has won two championships consecutively, had been contemplating taking a lighter year from rallying for some time.
“When Kalle first mentioned it to me, I had to take a moment to consider what this all means,” Halttunen tells RallyJournal.com.
“I had sensed something of this sort from Kalle for a while, and of course, this decision had been made some time ago. I took it very well. The more I’ve thought about it, the more comfortable I’ve started to feel with it,” Halttunen admits.
In the current WRC, there are 13 rounds per year. At first glance, one might think the schedule is not too demanding. On average, one rally trip per month, then back home.
But there’s more to it. Halttunen has said he starts preparing for the next round almost immediately upon returning home from the previous one. Tests also need to be run between races, so there aren’t too many free days at home.
“Even though we’re not always at races, we’re always in race mode, already thinking about the next one. This decision gives us a certain freedom regarding the next season. We’ll still compete, but we can also take it easier. It will surely add more years to the latter end of our careers,” Halttunen evaluates.
Rovanperä has emphasized that the decision is not permanent. The intention is that the successful Finnish duo will fight seriously for the championship again in the 2025 season.
The current plan is for Rovanperä and Halttunen to compete in about half of the season’s rallies.
“We’ll definitely be in a position to compete for wins in all the races we enter, from a good starting place,” Halttunen notes.
