For Finnish rally fans, perhaps the most painful of Rovanperä’s crashes came at last summer’s Rally Finland. Rovanperä was well on course for his first ever Jyväskylä victory when a loose rock sent his car off the road on the penultimate stage, straight into the forest.
That ended his rally, and Rovanperä’s maiden Rally Finland win is still yet to be achieved. In the moment of the crash, the Finn didn’t have much time to think.
“In that moment, you’re still so focused on the driving and trying to save the situation. But once it’s going, you’re just along for the ride like on an amusement park ride – and it’s not fun at all,” Rovanperä said.
When asked about the worst crash of his career, though, it happened in a different place and a different year.
Rovanperä had a huge off already on the opening stage of the 2021 Croatia Rally. That one has left a strong impression on the Finn.
“That one was a bit scary. We went off the road and you know there’s a really steep drop below – and you don’t know where you’re going to end up,” Rovanperä recalled.
Crashes and dangerous moments are part of rallying and motorsport in general. But you just have to move on from them.
“There are probably many ways to do that, and it surely also depends on what kind of crash it was,” Rovanperä reflected.
“For me, I don’t have any particular way of dealing with it, but I can honestly say there hasn’t been a single Monday where I’ve still been thinking about any rally – no matter how badly it went. For me, it’s quite easy to move on. It’s behind you, you can’t change it anymore. Then you just focus on what’s next,” Rovanperä stated.
