McRAE’S WORLD RECORD UNDER THREAT IN YPRES AS ROVANPERA CLOSES IN ON TITLE
Toyota star to be youngest WRC champion with 26 points and none for Neuville or Tanak
Kalle Rovanpera can beat Colin McRae’s record as the youngest winner of the World Rally Championship in Ypres this week – but it would mean home heartache if he did.
Rovanpera, 21, needs to leave Belgium with 26 points and hope that national hero Thierry Neuville and his Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak fail to score.
To bag 26 points, Toyota driver Rovanpera alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen would essentially need to win the sealed-surface counter and claim a Powerstage point.
“I’m feeling good about going to Belgium,” said Rovanpera, who placed third on his Ypres debut in 2021. “Last year we had quite a good rally there overall, I enjoyed the challenge of a new event and hopefully we can do a good result again this time.
“The style of the roads are tricky, with really big cuts and a lot of mud and gravel on the road. It could depend on the weather conditions: if it’s dry then we saw last year that it can be a bit dusty for the first cars, but if it’s wet then it should be perfect for us to be the first on the road. We had a good test a couple of weeks ago and between us I think we improved the car quite a lot.”
Rain was forecast around the rally route earlier this week, but dry weather is expected for the ninth round of the WRC season.
“If there’s rain it can be very slippery, and the drivers need to be able to read the road all of the time to judge how the grip is changing,” Rovanpera’s Toyota team boss Jari-Matti Latvala said. “We are much better prepared this year with the experience we gained last year. We understand the nature of the rally and we have tested on more suitable roads.”
Neuville beat then team-mate Craig Breen in a Hyundai 1-2 when Ypres hosted the WRC for the first time last August. Elfyn Evans, Rovanpera’s Toyota team-mate, finished fourth.
Scottish legend McRae was 27 years and 89 days old when he clinched the World title in 1995.