Winning is difficult, but repeating is even more difficult. Yet Kalle Rovanpera has proven that he is not only the reference driver of the future, but also of the present, becoming a two-time world rally champion thanks to his second place today at the Central European Rally, the penultimate event of the 2023 WRC season.
Rovanpera had already laid the foundations for winning the title in the first two days of the race, taking the lead in the event thanks to an excellent starting position to exploit on the wet surface. The accident and the consequent withdrawal of Elfyn Evans from the race, which occurred on Saturday morning, shocked the standings and handed Kalle the second title.
Once he saw Evans stopped on the side of the road after knocking down a stable wall, the young Finn slowed down noticeably because at that point it would have been enough for him to reach the finish line in the Top 10 to take home the championship.
Today Kalle celebrated together with Jonne Halttunen a title that arrived in a very different way than last year. In 2022 he managed to dominate the first half of the season, managing the large margin over the others in the second. This time, however, in the first 6 months he appeared to be in more difficulty than usual, and then changed pace from July onwards and achieved his second title.
The competition fell apart right at the best moment, with Elfyn Evans making decisive errors at the most inopportune moment and Thierry Neuville not supported in terms of performance and reliability of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. Ott Tanak, after an excellent start, paid for the poor reliability of the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid.
In all this, Thierry Neuville consoled himself by winning the Central European Rally ahead of the new world champion. The Hyundai Motorsport driver overtook Rovanpera on Saturday before flying away and taking home his second success of the season after the one obtained at the Rally Italia Sardegna last June. For the Belgian it is the 19th victory of his WRC career.
The podium of the penultimate event of the season was taken by Ott Tanak, third after taking advantage of Elfyn Evans’ retirement on Saturday. The Estonian from M-Sport did well to resist the final assaults of Sébastien Ogier, unrecognizable in the first part of the race after breaking a rim during the second day of competition.
The 8-time world champion preceded his teammate Takamoto Katsuta, who did well to resist the attacks of Teemu Suninen, the second and last Hyundai driver to the finish line after the accident that forced Esapekka Lappi to retire in the first stage. Good seventh place for Gregoire Munster, at the wheel of the second Ford Puma at the finish line and ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet, making his debut this weekend with the new co-driver Benjamin Veillas.
As for the WRC2, Nicolas Ciamin brings home a great success ahead of a pack of 8 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Frenchman preceded Erik Cais by just under half a minute. In third place was Kajetan Kajetanowicz. However, the driver who was fastest of all at the wheel of a Rally2 was Adrien Fourmaux. The Frenchman is in exceptional condition, earning the official Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid at the Rally Japan, the last round of the 2023 WRC, which will be held in mid-November.
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