Motorsport
2025 WRC Rally Finland: Rovanpera “trying more new ideas” to find pace on gravel
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Kalle Rovanpera has been trying “more new ideas” in a bid to unlock the pace from his Toyota as he aims to finally conquer his home World Rally Championship event in Finland.
The two-time world champion cut a frustrated figure after finishing a lonely fourth at the end of Rally Estonia two weeks ago, having struggled to find the pace required to challenge for victory at an event Rovanpera previously won on three occasions.
He has so far struggled to adapt to the WRC’s new gravel tyres, supplied by Hankook, which have required the 24-year-old to change his driving style to unlock the best from the rubber, earning a blunt admission across the Gulf of Finland.
“We just don’t have the pace on gravel at the moment," he said. "There are no excuses. If we cannot do it in Estonia we cannot do it anywhere else. I really tried this weekend but this is the maximum we can do.
“There is no point lying to yourself. That is the case at the moment. We will try to analyse everything and see where we can improve. We will try our best and we will keep fighting.”
Since Estonia, Rovanpera returned to the cockpit of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 for a test on Finland’s fast gravel roads last week in search of finding much-needed gains.
Rovanpera is yet to deliver a win on home soil. In 2022 he finished second behind Hyundai’s Ott Tanak while in 2023 and 2024 he crashed out from the lead.
“As our home event, going into Rally Finland always feels special with a lot of excitement and support from the fans," said Rovanpera.
“We’ve had good chances to win there with good pace in the last two years and didn’t quite manage to do it.
“We continue to work hard with the team to improve upon the pace that we’ve had on gravel so far this year, and we’ve been trying some more new ideas in testing for this event.
“Of course, we will try to enjoy the whole week, keep pushing as much as we can and do our maximum to get a top result.”
Rovanpera heads into Rally Finland sitting fourth in the championship, 24 points behind leader Tanak.
Rally Finland will be contested over 20 fast gravel stages, comprising 307.22 kilometres, beginning on Thursday night.
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