Last weekend, Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen participated in the Arctic Lapland Rally as a test run, where the duo showed strong pace before their eventual withdrawal towards the end.
On Tuesday, the pair continued their efforts at Toyota’s test site in Central Finland, fine-tuning their equipment for competition. Rovanperä will start his World Championship season next week in Sweden.
Rovanperä had excellent news to share during the test day.
“Starting the test day was much easier now that we were immediately on the “right area”. It was good to see that the feeling was the same here, albeit in slightly different conditions. The trip to the Arctic Rally was not wasted at all,” Rovanperä shared with a smile to RallyJournal.com.
According to Rovanperä, the focus during the Arctic Lapland Rally was on the car’s geometry and balance.
“We’ve been battling with balance on snow this year and last winter in Sweden. We focused mostly on balance to get the car to turn well and perform,” Rovanperä explained.
“I am more sensitive to it compared to my teammates. I really can’t stand understeer – at all. It has been more important for me that the car turns very well.”
In the Arctic Rally, Rovanperä was able to compare his speed to his teammate Elfyn Evans, whom the Finn quickly outpaced on the snowy roads. Despite a technical issue on the final stage that prevented Rovanperä from winning the rally, he issued a strong warning to other WRC stars before Rally Sweden.
Tuesday’s test day also went well, indicating that Rovanperä could be expected to achieve a top result in the upcoming race around Umeå.
“We’re testing some new things today that we couldn’t test in the Arctic Rally. Mainly, we’re ensuring and checking that we’re still in the same area,” Rovanperä said.
Rally Sweden will be held from 15th to 18th February.
