Participating in the Arctic Lapland Rally for testing purposes, Rovanperä spent the weekend fine-tuning his rally car’s settings for the upcoming Rally Sweden. The Finnish champion from Toyota showed promising speed, clearly outpacing his team-mate Elfyn Evans.
However, Rovanperä’s lead turned into a retirement towards the end of the final stage.
“Regrettably, the race ended for us a couple of kilometres before the finish due to a technical problem in the car,” Rovanperä explained.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala earlier disclosed that Rovanperä’s Rally1 car suffered an oil leak, preventing the world champion from seeing the finish ramp.
Despite the retirement, Rovanperä remained positive about the weekend.
“We managed to get some very important test kilometres. The car felt faster and better towards the end compared to what we had managed in the tests. I would say that the testing here went well,” Rovanperä said.
“We were in good pace compared to Elfyn. Hopefully, it looks the same in Sweden – meaning the car is fast, and we are in good shape.”
Rovanperä had almost a minute’s lead over Evans before the last stage. The Finnish star seems ready for his season opener, Rally Sweden, happening in a couple of weeks.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a good starting position in Sweden and can compete for the win there. You never know where our speed will be, but at least now the feeling is good. Hopefully, we’ll have the same good pace in Sweden,” Rovanperä shared.
