Rovanperä is taking his first steps in single-seater racing in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy, which is run across four race weekends during January.
The Finn made his debut at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on Saturday. He started his first race from 16th on the grid and eventually finished 17th in a field of 19 drivers.
Rovanperä’s opening race was full of incidents, and he was also handed a ten-second time penalty after being judged to have caused a rival to spin.
His performance improved significantly in the second race of the day. Starting from 17th on the grid, Rovanperä climbed to an impressive 11th place by the chequered flag.
Several drivers ran into trouble during the 18-lap race, but Rovanperä also showed clear progress compared to his opening start. He was genuinely fighting for a place in the top ten, but right at the end his Hitech team-mate Fionn McLaughlin managed to slip past, claiming tenth place.
Rovanperä finished the second race 24.5 seconds behind the winner. The gap was significantly reduced compared to the first start, underlining that the two-time World Rally Champion is moving in the right direction.
The second race at Hampton Downs was won by New Zealander Zack Scoular, ahead of Japan’s Jin Nakamura, with Freddie Slater completing the podium.
Rovanperä’s goal in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy is to gain as much experience as possible before stepping up to Japan’s Super Formula series. He will contest two more races at Hampton Downs on Sunday.
