Kalle Rovanperä has become a two-time WRC champion, clinching the title on Sunday after finishing second overall at Central European Rally*.

By finishing runner-up to Thierry Neuville at this penultimate round, the 23-year-old ensured he can no longer be caught in the 2023 season.

Just one year ago, Rovanperä made history when he became the youngest WRC champion ever. Today he stands alongside legendary names like Carlos Sainz, Walter Röhrl and Miki Biasion as a double winner.

Entering Central European Rally with a 31-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans, Rovanperä simply needed to maintain his advantage to claim the crown. When Evans suffered a dramatic crash on Saturday morning, the path to victory was all but assured.

Following a steady start to the season, Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen hit their straps in May by winning Vodafone Rally de Portugal. Since that moment, the pair have only been off the podium twice.

“I am feeling really good,” Rovanperä beamed. “I think this year was, for me personally, more important than last year. The competition was tighter, and we did a really good job. The biggest thank you of course goes to Jonne – he is also the world’s best co-driver. I am going to enjoy this one more than the first one.”

Neuville’s capture of the outright rally victory may have been overshadowed by the champions’ celebrations, but the Belgian’s drive was worthy of high praise.

Driving a Hyundai i20 N, Neuville took control on Saturday morning and headed Rovanperä by 57.6sec to claim his 19th career victory on the slippery asphalt roads across Germany, Austria and Czech Republic.

“Overall, we did a good job,” Neuville said. “We had good consistency which ultimately paid off. It was a team effort this weekend and we did it, so we can be proud of that.”

Ott Tänak overcame a hydraulic failure on the penultimate day to finish third, almost two minutes back from the frontrunning pace in an M-Sport Ford Puma.

Sébastien Ogier fought back from wheel damage on Friday to claim fourth ahead of his Toyota-driving colleague Takamoto Katsuta. Teemu Suninen, Grégoire Munster and Adrien Fourmaux completed the top 8 ahead of Nicolas Ciamin and Pierre-Louis Loubet,

There were also celebrations for Andreas Mikkelsen, who did just enough to secure the WRC2 title* despite going off the road on Friday.

The championship comes to a close in Asia next month at FORUM8 Rally Japan. The asphalt event is based in Aichi and takes place from 16 – 19 November.

*Subject to confirmation of results by the FIA

Overall classification:
1. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N 2h 52m 39.9s
2. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +57.5s
3. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Ford Puma +1m 52.8s
4. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2m 8.6s
5. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +2m 48.3s
6. T Suninen / M Markkula FIN Hyundai i20 N +3m 6.3s

Drivers’ championship standings (after round 12 of 13)
1. K Rovanperä 235pts
2. E Evans 191pts
3. T Neuville 184pts

Unconfirmed at the time of publication, Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen have clinched the WRC2 Championship after winning the Power stage where Gus Greensmith spun, earning no points.

The full warp of Central Rally Europe will be in Motorsport Monday tomorrow morning

Kalle Rovanpera overcame a 5s penalty at the start of the day to eventually close in on the FIA World Championship title by claiming the top spot at the close of Saturday’s running with a 29s gap to teammate Sebastian Ogier.

There was drama before anyone turned a wheel on Saturday as three drivers were hit with penalties for going over the maximum energy allowance for the hybrid boost. Rovanpera, Thierry Neuville, and Ott Tanak all got hit with 5s penalties for the boost values on SS1. This meant that Tanak fell behind Elfyn Evans, whilst Neuville and Rovanpera kept their positions.

Saturday’s stages were characterized by wet and muddy roads for the duration of the six tests but Rovanpera carved through the field whilst taking two stage wins in the afternoon to cement the lead he assumed by the mid-morning service.

The Finn commented: “A great day…I can be really happy with what we did in these extremely difficult conditions. We pushed really hard, and I am happy.”

Rovanpera, who was also celebrating his birthday today, had further good news regarding his title push as his closest rival, Ott Tanak was given a further penalty during the running. Once again Tanak, Neuville, and this time Oliver Solberg were penalised for the same offense that caught them out earlier on. They were given 10s added to their times which left Tanak 46.4s behind Rovanpera in third.

Although Rovanpera was having a great day, it wasn’t so smooth for Ogier. The Frenchman incurred a 10s penalty for arriving late to SS12, however, due to other penalties throughout the field he would still finish the day in second. Unfortunately, Evans had to retire his car with roll cage damage after he went off on the first pass of Puhoi.

Neuville and Solberg would finish fourth and fifth respectively however the Belgian was over a minute back from his teammate Tanak.

Takamoto Katsuta slid off the road on the penultimate stage when he was suffering from a misfire which allowed Solberg to take fifth.

Gus Greensmith was running fifth after SS9 however on the following stage he rolled his car after getting into a ditch at the exit of a left-hand turn. After the mechanics looked at the damage, they elected to retire the car.

Top 6 after Saturday:

1. Rovanpera 2hr 28min 26.3s
2. Ogier +29.0s
3. Tanak +46.4s
4. Neuville +1min 41.4s
5. Solberg +3min 34.9s
6. Paddon (WRC2) +8min 51.0s

Celebrating your 21^st birthday by threading a state-of-the art World Rally Car through the world’s fastest rally special stages chasing a win in front of your passionate home-town fans sounds rather like a comic-book story, or does it…

That’s the reality for Finland’s Kalle Rovanperä, currently the hottest property in the FIA World Rally Championship right now. And tomorrow Rovanperä will put the birthday presents to one side to chase a third straight gravel win, after becoming the WRC’s youngest-ever event winner in Estonia in July. The young Finn followed up that with a victory in Greece earlier this month.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver is the latest motorsport hero from Jyväskylä, the traditional home of the fastest round in the WRC calendar. Drivers born there have celebrated a remarkable 45 rally wins in the series’ 49-year history, including four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen, Mikko Hirvonen, Henri Toivonen and Rovanperä’s father, Harri.

 “Driving Rally Finland in a World Rally Car is going to be one of the coolest things for me in my career so far,” he admitted. “A home rally is always different and Rally Finland is something special. You can really feel the atmosphere there.”

Cars frequently top 125mph on roads amid the forests and lakes of central Finland that can resemble a rollercoaster. The speed, big jumps and blind crests masking corners mean pace notes must be perfect and delivered with pinpoint accuracy by hard-working co-drivers.

This year’s event runs two months later than normal with autumn well and truly set in, resulting in cooler temperatures, wetter roads and less grip on slippery gravel are hazards that drivers must counter this time.

“Now that it’s later in the year, the conditions could be really difficult if it’s wet and muddy,” Rovanperä added. “That could change things a bit, but I’m really looking forward to it, and it’s going to be really nice to see the fans cheering for us on the stages.”

Toyota Yaris colleague Sébastien Ogier holds a 44-point lead over team-mate Elfyn Evans. If results go his way, the Frenchman could clinch his eighth WRC title here with two rounds still remaining.

For the Toyota team, based just outside Jyväskylä, their Yaris WRC is undefeated in Finland since the Japanese manufacturer returned to the sport in 2017. But Ogier is taking nothing for granted.

“The Yaris WRC was born on Finnish roads so it should perform well there but I’m expecting tough competition as well, including from my team-mates,” he explained. “Nothing is decided in the championship yet so let’s see what approach we will take on this rally.”

Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta and 2017 winner Esapekka Lappi also drive Yaris WRCs. Katsuta has stand-in co-driver Aaron Johnston alongside, while Lappi is back at the top level for the first time in 10 months.

Hyundai Motorsport currently trails Toyota by 57 points in defence of its manufacturers’ title and needs strong performances from i20 WRC trio of regulars Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak with Irishman Craig Breen, taking on the role of the third driver for this event.

Young up and coming rally stars Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux complete the top-tier lie-up in M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRCs with Frenchman Fourmaux partnered by new co-driver Alexandre Coria for the first time.

The rally starts in Jyväskylä tomorrow afternoon (Friday) and returns for the finish on Sunday afternoon after 19 special stages covering 178.4 miles.