The Arctic Lapland Rally, part of the Finnish Rally Championship, served as a crucial preparation event for Rovanperä, allowing him to get a proper feel for Hankook’s new studded tyres. Based on his performance, there is still much to consider regarding the South Korean manufacturer’s tyres.
A prime example was the Sarriojärvi stage, which was run twice on Saturday. On the first pass, held in clear weather, Rovanperä set the fastest time, beating Tuukka Kauppinen by 20.6 seconds.
This was the expected outcome, given that Rovanperä was driving a Toyota Rally1 car, while Kauppinen was in a Toyota Rally2.
However, when the stage was repeated in the evening in heavy snowfall, Rovanperä was unable to match the pace of the Rally2 cars. His stage time was one minute and 41 seconds slower than his earlier run, leaving him 40 seconds behind Roope Korhonen’s stage-winning time.
Comparing this to Kauppinen’s performance, the young driver was 50 seconds slower than in the morning, indicating that Rovanperä struggled significantly more on Hankook tyres in deep snow.
One clear disadvantage Rovanperä had against Rally2 cars was that WRC-spec tyres use much shorter studs than those in the Finnish championship. Still, it was remarkable to see the two-time world champion finishing second overall to Kauppinen.
Ahead of the rally, Rovanperä had already noted that Hankook’s studded tyres felt more sensitive in loose snow, leading to a greater loss of grip in soft conditions.
His performance in Rovaniemi seemed to confirm that initial impression.
At the end of the event, Rovanperä was asked directly: is Hankook’s studded tyre too slow for a Rally1 car?
“Well, I won’t comment on that any further,” Rovanperä replied.
“In the end, the snowfall was heavy, and with our short studs, it was quite a struggle.”
Regardless of the challenges, Rovanperä gathered valuable data on the tyres over the two-day event. His rivals won’t get the chance to test Hankook’s tyres in real competition conditions before Rally Sweden.
There was no reason for the Finnish star to be overly concerned after the event.
“I think it was an important weekend for getting the extra kilometres. There is quite a lot of work to do with the car and everything. The tyre is quite different from what we have seen previously, so it was good to be here,” Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä will complete one more test day next week before heading to Rally Sweden, which takes place in less than two weeks.
