Last weekend, Rovanperä competed in the Acropolis Rally in Greece, where he once again struggled to find the right setup for his car. On Monday, he travelled to Finland, but by Tuesday he was back to business.
Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen boarded a helicopter early in the morning and flew to southern Estonia to begin testing ahead of the next WRC round. Rally Estonia takes place in just over two weeks.
“It’s been quite a long time since we’ve been on this kind of fast gravel rally – this is the first one of the year. So the goal is to get back up to speed with the car and obviously try to find some good setups for the next few rallies, Estonia and also Finland,” Rovanperä told Estonia’s Delfi news outlet during the test day.
This season, Rovanperä has struggled to find the right balance with the updated car and Hankook tyres. So far, he’s only felt truly comfortable in one rally – the asphalt event in the Canary Islands in April, which he also won.
“I haven’t been so comfortable this year. We haven’t had the best pace like we should, so obviously not the most confident I’ve ever been,” Rovanperä admitted.
Rovanperä has found the early summer gravel events challenging, but during the Estonia test, he had some good news to share.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll still have a good feeling – at least today, being back on these roads, which are my favourite. I at least enjoy being in the car, and the feeling is quite good. So I’m pretty confident we can do something well,” he said.
Rovanperä has very fond memories of Estonia’s fast gravel rally. He claimed his first ever WRC win in the Tartu–Otepää region in 2021 and repeated the feat in dominant style in both 2022 and 2023.
Rally Estonia will take place from 17 to 20 July, with the city of Tartu once again serving as rally HQ.
