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

Just four stages stand between Kalle Rovanperä and back-to-back FIA World Rally Championship titles after his only title rival Elfyn Evans crashed out of Central European Rally on Saturday.

Having dominated Thursday’s treacherous tests in the Czech Republic to build a commanding rally lead, 23-year-old Rovanperä was already doing more than enough to successfully defend his 2022 WRC drivers’ crown.

A spin on Saturday’s second stage allowed Thierry Neuville to slash the Finn’s advantage by more than half, but the dynamic changed later in the morning when Rovanperä’s Toyota GR Yaris team-mate Evans, who had been sitting third overall, crashed out the rally.

Evans needed to outscore his colleague by at least one point at this penultimate round to keep the fight going, but he came unstuck on a slippery right-hand bend and slid into a barn. The Welshman will restart on Sunday in a desperate bid to salvage bonus points from the Wolf Power Stage.

Sacrificing his chances of the outright rally win to focus on his championship prospects, Rovanperä dialled back his speed. Neuville was left to build a 26.2-second overnight lead in his Hyundai i20 N.

“It’s good to be at the finish of the day,” said Rovanperä, who simply needs a drama-free run through the closing stages to clinch the title. “It’s tough out there. I think these are the most tough Tarmac rally conditions I have ever seen.”

Neuville added: “All afternoon we tried to manage the gap and I am happy to finish the day in the lead of the rally. We are following our target.”

Ott Tänak ensured that all three top-line manufacturers ended the day on the podium, bringing his Ford Puma to the end in a lonely third overall. A non-functioning handbrake caused the M-Sport man some frustrations in SS14, and he trailed Rovanperä by over one minute with Sébastien Ogier 31.1sec behind.

The battle for fifth place was raging between Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen. Katsuta struggled to feel confident on the greasy asphalt roads in the morning but upped his pace in the afternoon to claim the position by 10.9sec.

Puma hotshot Grégoire Munster was seventh overall ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet. Adrien Fourmaux and Emil Lindholm, leader of the WRC2 category in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, completed the leaderboard.

Sunday’s finale boasts two stages, each run twice, across two countries. Böhmerwald in Austria is first up before Passauer Land in Germany, the second pass of which forms the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

Leading positions after Saturday:
1. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe                        Hyundai i20 N                    2h 18m 34.5s
2. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen                       Toyota GR Yaris                 +26.2s
3. O Tänak / M Järveoja                                                 Ford Puma                          +1m 49.1s
4. S Ogier / V Landais                                      Toyota GR Yaris                 +2m 20.2s
5. T Katsuta / A Johnston                              Toyota GR Yaris                 +2m 47.9s
6. T Suninen / M Markkula                           Hyundai i20 N                    +2m 58.8s

Elfyn Evans set the pace on Thursday morning’s Rally Chile Bio Bío’s shakedown stage.

Evans, driving his Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris, starts the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship 33 points adrift of his TGR team-mate Kalle Rovanperä. While Rovanpera could clinch the title in South America, it would come at Evans’ expense, as the Welshman needs to finish eighth or higher to stay in the title fight.

Just 0.5sec split the title-hunting duo after multiple passes of the 5.75km Bio Bío shakedown stage near to the Concepcion service park, with Evans setting the benchmark on his second and penultimate run.

M-Sport Ford Puma driver Pierre Louis Loubet, finished third quickest, 1.1sec down on Evans, followed by Teemu Suninen who was the highest-placed Hyundai i20 N driver in fourth. He headed Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta by two-tenths of a second while Thierry Neuville, also driving a Hyundai, was a single tenth further back.

Ott Tänak could only muster the seventh-best time in his Puma ahead of Esapekka Lappi. Grégoire Munster and Alberto Heller, both making their debut in Rally1 machinery completed the top 10.