It was recently revealed that Rovanperä will participate in the Killarney Historic Rally in Ireland at the end of November. Rovanperä, along with his co-driver Jonne Halttunen, will compete in the tarmac event driving Northern Irishman Jason Black’s Toyota Starlet, which boasts an impressive 380 horsepower.
The rally takes place less than a week after the conclusion of the World Rally Championship season. This has raised questions about whether Rovanperä plans to skip Toyota’s home rally in Japan.
Now, Rovanperä’s secret plan has been uncovered. Jason Black, who is lending his car to Rovanperä, accidentally let the information slip during an interview with DirtFish.
“Me give Kalle advice? I don’t think so. I think he’ll be the one giving us the tips! He’s coming pretty much straight from the final WRC round in Japan, so we’re hoping to get him over for a test – it would probably be a good idea,” Black said.
So far, Toyota and Rovanperä have kept quiet about whether the Finnish star will compete in Rally Japan. Both Toyota and Hyundai have been keeping their driver line-ups for this season’s WRC events under wraps for as long as possible to avoid giving any extra information to rival teams.
This year, Toyota and Hyundai have rotated different drivers in their third cars. For Hyundai, the duties have been shared between Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen, and Dani Sordo.
For Toyota, the third car has been driven by Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier. Both drivers have also competed in the same rally on four occasions, scoring valuable points for Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship.
Rovanperä is skipping this week’s Central European Rally, but according to Black’s accidental revelation, the Finn will be competing in Japan’s tarmac event. This makes perfect sense for Toyota, as it’s likely that the manufacturers’ championship will only be decided at the final round of the season.
By fielding both Rovanperä and Ogier in the same event, Toyota will have the strongest possible line-up to fight for the manufacturers’ championship points.
Toyota’s Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta set excellent stage times at his home event last year, but this season has been particularly challenging for him. If Rovanperä, Ogier, and Elfyn Evans are all competing for manufacturers’ points in Japan, Katsuta can race without pressure, outside of the factory team.
Hyundai currently holds a 17-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship ahead of this weekend’s Central European Rally. Rally Japan is scheduled for 21-24 November, and a week later, Rovanperä will compete in Ireland.
