The reigning world champion is conducting his pre-event test for Rally Finland at Toyota’s test site in Finland. His goal is to find the right setup for the Toyota Rally1 car that will allow him to fight seriously for his first-ever win on home soil.
At last weekend’s Rally Estonia, Rovanperä struggled throughout with both the car and the Hankook tyres. The Finnish star couldn’t match the leaders’ pace and ultimately finished fourth in the high-speed gravel event. He only showed true top speed on Sunday’s final day when the stages were damp after overnight rain.
So heading into his home rally, Rovanperä doesn’t have the most promising foundation – but the test day is aimed at finding answers to the key issues.
“We probably don’t know any magic tricks. But of course, we do have a few ideas to try out and test, to see if we can reach the window we need to be in,” Rovanperä told RallyJournal.com.
From a championship perspective, the upcoming rallies are critical. Rovanperä currently sits fourth in the WRC standings, 24 points behind leader Ott Tänak, with six rounds remaining.
This year, Rovanperä has only one rally win to his name, along with two third-place finishes. He is in desperate need of more strong results.
According to Rovanperä, the next gravel rallies – Finland, Paraguay, and Chile – will largely determine whether he can realistically contend for a third world title.
“So far, we haven’t been able to fight for it the way we should. To win the title, you need podiums and also victories. We need to get good results in these upcoming gravel rallies,” Rovanperä said.
“Otherwise, our road position will get worse – especially with the asphalt rallies coming, where you actually want to be starting near the front. So we need to deliver in the next gravel events.”
Rally Finland kicks off next Thursday, July 31.
