After finishing sixth in Chile, Kalle Rovanperä sees his World Championship chances dwindling: only victories can still save his dream of a third title.
After Rally Chile, Kalle Rovanperä emphasized that only victories in the remaining races will help his hopes of winning a third World Rally Championship (WRC) title.
The Toyota driver traveled to Chile in second place in the overall standings, just seven points behind Sebastien Ogier. After the weekend, however, the Finn is already 21 points behind, as Ogier took the lead in the standings with his fifth victory of the season.
Rovanperä got off to a good start and took the lead early on. However, a rare mistake threw him off his rhythm when he hit an embankment and knocked the left rear tire off the rim. The incident cost him over a minute.
Continued lack of confidence in Hankook tires
In the end, the 2022 and 2023 world champion finished sixth and collected twelve points. In addition to an unfavorable starting position in changeable conditions, his lack of confidence in the Hankook tires once again hampered him, preventing him from making any further attacks on the front runners.
“At this point in the season, two stage wins are not enough. We need results,” explained Rovanperä. “The road position had more influence than expected. We also lack speed in many conditions. We were only able to keep up in the wet; as soon as it was dry, we didn’t have good pace. If you have to go out on the track early and attack hard, it just doesn’t work.”
With the upcoming asphalt races in Central Europe and Japan, as well as the gravel finale in Saudi Arabia, Rovanperä sees his title chances dwindling: “It’s getting more and more difficult. We needed a good result here, especially before the asphalt rallies, but we didn’t manage to achieve that.”
Can Rovanperä strike back on asphalt?
“Sebastien is doing a really good job this year and deservedly leads the championship. We definitely need a few wins if we want to still have a chance,” said the Finn.
Hopes now rest on, among other things, the Rally Central Europe, which passes through Germany, Austria, and Czechia. Although Rovanperä won the asphalt event in the Canary Islands in April, he does not expect it to be an easy game: “It will be a completely different rally. There is a lot of dirt and cuts, it’s not comparable. But we will try to perform as strongly as we did in the Canary Islands.”
