Rovanperä won the WRC rally in the Canary Islands in April in dominant fashion and also found excellent pace in Portugal and Rally Sardinia, but then the familiar difficulties returned once again in the Acropolis Rally.
Throughout the season, Rovanperä has lamented that the tyres from the WRC’s new supplier, Hankook, do not suit his natural driving style.
Now, however, two ultra-fast gravel events lie ahead, as the WRC returns to Estonia after a year’s break, followed by Rally Finland at the start of August.
Rovanperä has fond memories of Estonia. He has already won the high-speed gravel rally three times in his career.
“It’s cool to be going back to Rally Estonia this year. It’s where I took my first win in the WRC and we’ve had some good success since then also, so I have good memories of this event,” said Rovanperä.
Rovanperä now feels that Estonia’s fast gravel roads should suit him in the best possible way. That promises serious pace.
“I really enjoy driving on the fast and flowing roads and they suit my style well, so I’m excited,” the Finn previewed.
However, Rovanperä admitted frankly that, so far, his pace on gravel has also been lacking. He naturally hopes that will change.
“The pace on gravel so far this year hasn’t quite been where I’ve wanted it to be, so we had an important test in Estonia last week to try and get fully up to speed and find the best setup for these faster rallies,” Rovanperä explained.
“The feeling was pretty good and I’m confident that we can do a good rally,” the confident Finn concluded.
Rally Estonia will take place from 17–20 July.
