Kalle Rovanperä, who secured his first win of the season, was in a league of his own throughout the rally – but so was the entire Toyota team. Sébastien Ogier finished second, and championship leader Elfyn Evans took third place. Takamoto Katsuta completed Toyota’s dream result in fourth.
Toyota also scored big in the manufacturers’ standings, as Hyundai endured a tough weekend in the Canaries.
Rovanperä made a major leap on a personal level as well, climbing from sixth to second in the drivers’ championship – and emerging as teammate Evans’ biggest threat in the title fight.
“Incredible performance. I mean, Kalle’s just dominated the whole weekend. But the biggest thanks belongs to the team and the testing. I mean, our car was just perfect for this rally – to be one, two, three, four, it’s quite historic. I mean, it doesn’t happen very often, I think,” Toyota team principal Juha Kankkunen pointed out.
Rovanperä had a challenging start to the season. The Finnish champion struggled to adapt to the new Hankook tyres. But now, everything suddenly clicked into place. That could spell trouble for the rest of the field.
“The car and everything just fits his hands,” Kankkunen noted.
“I said before the rally that he hasn’t really been struggling, but the move from last year’s hybrid cars to this year’s normal turbo cars didn’t quite suit his driving style. Now it seems to fit. I said before the rally: wait until Kalle finds fifth gear in the gearbox – it’ll mean trouble for the others,” Kankkunen added.
Toyota has dominated the opening stages of the WRC season as a team, and main rival Hyundai has not been able to respond. Still, Kankkunen warns against complacency.
“Really big thing for the team. But you have to remember, rallying is like that – there are good days and bad days, and anything can happen. There are still many rallies to come. So you can’t just say this is one result – but it’s a beautiful result,” Kankkunen said with a smile.
