Last weekend, Rovanperä secured his opening victory of the season at the Safari Rally in Kenya. The Finnish Toyota star was in a class of his own, clinching first place with a comfortable margin of over a minute and a half ahead of his teammate Takamoto Katsuta.
After the weekend in Kenya, Rovanperä travelled from the Kenyan savannahs to a completely different setting. He headed from Nairobi to Tokyo, where he will compete this week.
Rovanperä is kicking off his drifting season at the Fuji International Speedway, participating in the opening round of the Formula Drift Japan.
The world champion is only contesting part of the World Rally Championship this season as he wants to enjoy other motorsport disciplines throughout the year. Drifting has been part of Rovanperä’s repertoire for several years, and last year he competed in Japan for the first time.
In May last year, Rovanperä won at the Ebisu Circuit and finished second in the final race of the Formula Drift Japan in Okayama. This year, he continues to compete in Japan, driving a Toyota GR Corolla for the Cusco Racing team.
In Okayama, Rovanperä was narrowly defeated in the final by local drifting star Kanta Yanaguida, but now he has a chance for revenge, as Kanta’s name is also on the participant list.
Rovanperä has not yet confirmed when he will next compete in the World Rally Championship. The season continues in just over two weeks with the Croatian round, which Rovanperä will definitely miss.
Rovanperä might participate in the Rally de Portugal in May, although the opening race of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series is also scheduled for the same weekend. Rovanperä is set to compete in four races in the Porsche Carrera Cup this year.
“The idea of having a year with more freedom was definitely about having more time to do other things that are interesting to me. Circuit racing is one of those things, definitely,” Rovanperä explained to RallyJournal.com.
“Even though there are many race weekends, the week is much shorter when you only go to circuit races for the weekend. Plus, it’s new and interesting, so there’s a different vibe to it.”
