As recently as mid-July at Rally Estonia, Rovanperä was in a gloomy mood. He struggled with the car’s setup on the fast gravel roads of Estonia – an issue the Finn has been battling with all season.
Or perhaps more accurately, had been battling with. At Rally Finland, Rovanperä returned to his familiar brilliant form and drove to a commanding victory.
The speed of the transformation was startling. Naturally, the question arose: what had been done to the car in such a short timeframe for the performances at Estonia and Finland to be like night and day?
Rovanperä’s co-driver Jonne Halttunen was initially reluctant to delve into the matter.
“Kalle can probably tell you himself,” Halttunen began.
And indeed, Kalle was asked as well, but the Finnish champion refused to give details.
“There’s probably no point telling – at least not with competitors listening,” Halttunen chuckled and continued:
“It’s all being optimised for Kalle’s driving style, and I’m sure Kalle has also adapted his own driving style. With that tyre, you certainly can’t drive the way you usually would. If your speed has previously relied on a particular trait and that trait is no longer there, then it’s not easy. But we’ve now taken a step in the right direction, and of course, we hope it continues this way,” Halttunen explained.
Rovanperä, of course, has tried his best throughout the season, but even making small changes has not been easy.
“Quite simply, the issue has been that we haven’t had data on this tyre. We didn’t know what the fastest way to progress with this tyre was. Now we clearly have an idea. Compared to all previous products, this tyre needs to be used in quite a different way,” Halttunen stated.
