This season, Rovanperä is fighting for his third World Rally Championship title. But in 2026, new challenges await on the circuit racing side.
Earlier in October, Rovanperä announced that he will leave the World Rally Championship at the end of the current season and move to Japan’s Super Formula series next year. The Finn has set his sights as high as possible – ultimately towards Formula One.
Rovanperä has chosen a slightly unconventional route towards the pinnacle of circuit racing. The traditional path would normally lead through the F3 and F2 series, but instead of Formula 3, Rovanperä has opted for Japan’s Super Formula championship.
Rovanperä was asked a critical question about this decision during his press conference.
“This is a good question. I think the point was that we can build the best kind of schedule like this. Obviously Super Formula is a much faster car than Formula 3. So the step will be even bigger, even more difficult for me,” Rovanperä explained.
“At the same time, when being in a faster car, I can get used to the higher speeds, my body and the driving style. I can get used to the higher speeds and the G-forces and stuff. So I think also only seven race weekends in Super Formula is quite a good plan. I can still test a lot, and that way it’s a pretty good way to start.”
Rovanperä has not yet had the chance to test a Super Formula car, which produces around 550 horsepower and reaches a top speed of over 300 kilometres per hour.
The Finnish star hinted that he will complete his first test in the near future. A potential opportunity could come after Rally Japan – just over two weeks from now. At that time, Rovanperä will already be in the Land of the Rising Sun, and there will still be more than two weeks until the season-ending round of the World Rally Championship.
“Obviously it has been quite limited with time. That’s one of the tricky points this year. We’re still having these couple of rally weeks and all the extra stuff around it. I will be quite limited on time, but I will soon get to test the cars for the first time and get up to speed with them,” Rovanperä said.
Rally Japan will take place from 6–9 November. Rovanperä will travel to Japan next week, where he will attend PR events over the weekend.
