EIGHT POINTS WILL END ROVANPERA’S WAIT
Kalle Rovanpera starts Rally New Zealand on the brink of becoming the youngest World champion in history.
Rovanpera needs eight points from round 11 of the season to take the title and will be aged 22 and one day old when the event finishes on Sunday afternoon.
Should the Toyota driver prevail, then he will comfortably beat Colin McRae’s existing record as the youngest winner, which the legendary Scot set on the RAC Rally back in 1995 at the age of 27 years, three months and 17 days old.
However, Rovanpera starts in Auckland on the back of crashing but continuing in Belgium and Greece, meaning securing the title this weekend is by no means a foregone conclusion.
“It will be really interesting to go to Rally New Zealand,” the Finn said. “Recent rallies have not been ideal for us, but we know what we need to improve and we are working hard to have more pace and be more comfortable. Again we will be opening the road in New Zealand but hopefully we can have good speed, enjoy the event and finish with a good result.”
Eight points is essentially equal to a sixth-place finish in the World championship.