Rally champion Rovanperä began his circuit racing career on Saturday with an impressive fourth-place finish in the first race of the weekend at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. For Sunday’s race, Rovanperä started from sixth position and managed to improve his standing by one place during the 30-minute race.
Rovanperä quickly overtook Niels Langeveld, who had started ahead of him. Shortly after the start, the safety car was deployed after Swedish driver Robin Knutsson went off the track.
The Porsche pack followed the safety car for the first ten minutes before racing resumed. Rovanperä made several attempts to challenge Sacha Norden, who was in fourth place, but he was unable to improve his position.
Rovanperä did not find the same momentum in his second race as he did in Saturday’s event. In the weekend’s opening race, representing RedAnt Racing, Rovanperä set the fastest lap time of 1:38.219, whereas on Sunday his best lap was about 0.4 seconds slower.
Belgian driver Benjamin Paque claimed victory in Sunday’s race ahead of Dutchman Dirk Schouten. Paque took the lead from pole-sitter Schouten right at the start and maintained the top position throughout the race. Paul Meijer finished third.
This time, Rovanperä was 12 seconds behind the winner, compared to a seven-second gap on Saturday. Overall, his performances can be considered excellent, especially given that he had only a few short test sessions before his debut.
Rovanperä will next compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux at the Imola circuit in Italy in early July. A couple of weeks later, he will return to the wheel of the Toyota Rally1 car for the Rally Latvia.
