The two-time World Rally Champion competed in his first circuit race on Saturday in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series in the Netherlands. Rovanperä started the race at Zandvoort from third position and ultimately finished fourth.
Rovanperä took some time to get a feel for the race at the start, but his pace increased significantly in the second half. As evidence of his progress, he set the fastest lap of the race and executed an impressive overtake on Dutch driver Paul Meijer.
“I’m quite happy with how everything went. In the beginning of the race, I was struggling a bit with the car and the speed, and didn’t defend enough. I lost a few places, but then at the end, luckily I got back to fourth,” Rovanperä recounted.
“I had a really good pace for the rest of the race, being the fastest on the track and overtaking a bit, having a good fight until the end,” Rovanperä said, referring to his narrow defeat to Robin Knutsson, who finished third.
Rovanperä will have another opportunity to gain more experience in circuit racing on Sunday when the second race at Zandvoort takes place.
“Tomorrow, race two will be more difficult. In qualifying, we didn’t get such a good second lap. So, we are starting P6,” Rovanperä noted.
“We need to find a bit more potential from the car for the first few laps of the race. If I can have that, I will try to push more and definitely do some overtaking and see where we can end up.”
Rovanperä is currently taking a break from the World Rally Championship. According to the Finnish star, circuit racing also benefits his primary profession.
“I’m learning a lot, and that’s the main reason why I’m here. I want to learn new things, and I want to challenge myself as a driver. Everything you do here can help in rallying and everywhere. So, I think that driving on the limit is never a bad thing,” Rovanperä explained.
Read also: Kalle Rovanperä’s next WRC rally confirmed
