This season, Rovanperä has participated in fewer World Rally Championship events to explore other forms of motorsport. In the Porsche Carrera Cup, he has demonstrated that he can also handle circuit racing exceptionally well.
Rovanperä has now competed in a total of five rounds in the series, securing two wins. Saturday’s victory, however, came under somewhat unusual circumstances.
Rovanperä started the race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring from second on the grid. The Finnish ace got off to a brilliant start and immediately challenged pole-sitter Benjamin Paque at the first corner. Ultimately, Rovanperä overtook the Belgian driver and took the lead.
The race was held in dreadful weather conditions: rain poured down from the sky, and the temperature hovered around a chilly seven degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, Rovanperä managed to master the challenging conditions superbly. In the lead, he was able to control the situation and steadily extend his gap over the other Porsche drivers.
Rovanperä had managed to build a few seconds’ lead over Niels Langeveld in second place when the race was about halfway through. At this point, a safety car was deployed, as two cars had gone off the track in the same rain-soaked corner.
The pack trundled behind the safety car for a couple of laps before the red flags were brought out, prompting the safety car to lead the competitors back to the pit lane to await a possible restart.
After some waiting, the race control ultimately decided to halt the race for good. This meant that Rovanperä, representing the RedAnt Racing team, was awarded the win ahead of Langeveld and his teammate Dreke Janssen. Over 13 minutes of racing time, nearly half of the race, remained uncompleted.
Another round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series will be held at Austria’s Red Bull Ring on Sunday, with Rovanperä starting from fourth on the grid.
