Rovanperä won the rally overall with a commanding margin of 53.5 seconds over teammate Sébastien Ogier and set 15 fastest stage times in total. He also topped the Super Sunday standings and clinched the Power Stage win by four seconds ahead of Ogier.
With a perfect score of 35 points from the weekend, Rovanperä climbed from sixth to second in the championship standings.
“Pretty unbelievable. The start of the season hasn’t been the best for us. But now we showed that at least in these conditions, we’re back. A big thanks to the team – the car was really good all weekend,” Rovanperä said.
Ogier could only admire the performance of his younger teammate.
“Kalle and Jonne were truly impressive this weekend. They drove an amazing rally. I’m also fairly happy with my own performance. When you’ve been away for a few months, you’re maybe not quite at your sharpest. This was a great result for the team,” Ogier commented.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans finished third in the rally. Takamoto Katsuta secured a stunning 1-2-3-4 result for Toyota. Evans also finished third in Sunday’s classification and on the Power Stage, further strengthening his lead in the championship. Rovanperä is now Evans’s closest challenger, the gap between them down to 43 points. Neuville, Ogier and Tänak follow close behind in the standings.
It was a tough weekend for Hyundai. Adrien Fourmaux was the best of the Korean manufacturer’s drivers, finishing fifth and beating both of the team’s world champions – Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville. Defending champion Neuville ended the rally in seventh and earned just one point from Sunday, while Tänak, who finished sixth overall, scored no points from the final day.
“Clearly, this wasn’t our weekend. We’ve been facing big issues. We have a lot of work ahead. We clearly did something wrong and now we have to figure out what. We just need to come back stronger. The puncture was unfortunate, as it ruined even a halfway decent result,” Neuville reflected.
In WRC2, victory went to French tarmac specialist Yohan Rossel. Alejandro Cachón took second place ahead of Nikolay Gryazin.
Rally Islas Canarias results:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 2:54:39.8 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +53.5 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:17.1 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2:02.9 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +2:31.0 |
| 6. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +3:11.4 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +3:40.7 |
| 8. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +7:10.7 |
| 9. | Alejandro Cachon | Toyota | +7:40.2 |
Super Sunday results:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | 32:22.5 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +8.3 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +9.0 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +19.0 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +21.4 |
Rally Islas Canarias itinerary (CET):
Thursday 24 April
10:01 SS1 Shakedown: Santa Brígida (6.26 km)
Friday 25 April
09:03 SS1 Valsequillo - Telde 1 (26.32 km)
10:49 SS2 Velleseco - Artenara 1 (15.27 km)
12:25 SS3 La Aldea - Mogán 1 (17.83 km)
14:35 Service
16:18 SS4 Valsequillo - Telde 2 (26.32 km)
18:04 SS5 Velleseco - Artenara 2 (15.27 km)
19:40 SS6 La Aldea - Mogán 2 (17.83 km)
Saturday 26 April
09:05 SS7 Moya - Gáldar 1 (24.09 km)
10:48 SS8 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 1 (13.75 km)
11:58 SS9 Tejeda - San Mateo 1 (23.30 km)
13:40 Service
16:05 SS10 Moya - Gáldar 2 (24.09 km)
17:48 SS11 Arucas - Firgas - Teror 2 (13.75 km)
18:58 SS12 Tejeda - San Mateo 2 (23.30 km)
21:35 SS13 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1.80 km)
Sunday 27 April
09:10 SS14 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 1 (14.97 km)
10:05 SS15 Maspalomas 1 (13.47 km)
11:35 SS16 Costa Canaria (1.50 km)
12:21 SS17 Agüimes - Santa Lucía 2 (14.97 km)
14:15 SS18 Maspalomas 2 (13.47 km) *Power Stage
