ROVANPERA JOINS WRC2 R 5 REGULARS TO FIGHT IN THE FOREST
The WRC2 title is wrapped up so it’s all eyes on 17-year-old Finn Kalle Rovanpera, who passed his driving test just 24 days ago.
Expectations will be high for the youngster labelled everything from future WRC champion to rallying’s Max Verstappen. If MN had a pound for every time that was said…
But, let’s not forget, this is Wales Rally GB. Alright, rookies in Wales can win – Esapekka Lappi did so last year, despite crashing his Skoda Fabia R5 en route to the WRC2 title. Rovanpera has a lot to prove.
A few warm-up events in the ERC and his native Finland allied to three seasons of Latvian rallying won’t be enough to ensure Rally GB victory. But his talent is undeniable and he’ll be eager to announce himself onto the world scene. Watch this space. His descriptive pacenotes will help if there’s fog. His commitment and M-sport Ford Fiesta R5 will do the rest.
Teemu Suninen is well among the favourites this year and team-mate Eric Camilli will be right there with him. Camilli trails Suninen by eight points in the standings, but the Finn can still go to Australia to score more points (even if that’s unlikely), whereas this event is Camilli’s last chance to score.
With Lappi now in a Toyota, Skoda’s hopes lie with 2017 WRC2 champion Pontus Tidemand. He went well and took a clever second last year, realising he couldn’t cope with Lappi’s outright pace, he set about being consistent to secure a strong result.
Also in a Skoda, Ole Christian Veiby trails Camilli by nine points making that battle a heated one – and the Norwegian has been strong in his second year of WRC2. Veiby won the class in Poland, but his most impressive form came at Rally Finland where, although not registered for WRC2 points, he was the R5 pacesetter until he rolled spectacularly out of Paijala.
For Britain, Gus Greensmith did this event last year and has a season of learning in WRC2 under his belt. The podium would be a fantastic result for the Fiesta R5 driver. Finland podium finisher Tom Cave switches from Hyundai i20 R5 to Fiesta R5 and has set his sights on a win (see rally news).
The winner in Finland, Jari Huttunen, is starting his first event in an i20 R5 after winning a shootout for a workssupported WRC2 drive with Hyundai for next year. He has one start and one win in the class. Rally GB will be an equally large step, but put nothing past this youngster.