Kalle Rovanpera claims nothing would’ve stopped Rally Finland crash
4th August 2024Kalle Rovanpera has claimed nothing he could’ve done differently would have avoided his heartbreaking crash at his home rally, in Finland.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
Rovanpera had a near-perfect weekend after a troublesome Friday morning where he wrangled his Yaris to take the rally lead, which he achieved on SS5.
On the final day of the weekend, the double-world champion had established a healthy 44.2 seconds in hand over Ogier. The 24-year-old and the rally under complete control and his first rally win in Finland was in the palm of his hand.
However, a loose rock in the middle of the 19th stage of 20, Sahloinen-Moksi 2, brought all of Rovanpera’s ambitions crashing down into the tree line. As they rode over the rock, it had unsettled their Rally1 Yaris which sent the car wide and into the trees.
“We had a really good morning with everything under control and still fighting for Sunday points without taking any risks,” said Rovanpera.
“On pretty much the last corner of the penultimate stage we were driving normally with a steady pace but in the middle of the corner, there was a huge loose stone which I could not avoid and it threw us off the road.”
Ahead of the accident, the two-time world champion had racked up the maximum 18 points from the action spanning from Thursday to Saturday, and looking to be in contention for maximum Super Sunday points against Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi.
Upon reflection, Rovanpera admitted that nothing could’ve been done to avoid the incident and described it as a ‘tough’ moment to take on, considering he was one stage away from his maiden home win.
“It’s quite an unreal feeling, considering there was nothing we could have done to change the situation,” Rovanpera continued.
“It’s quite tough to take but on the other hand, Jonne and I executed a perfect weekend until that point and couldn’t really have done anything differently.”
Read more WRC here:
- Ogier takes Rally Finland WRC win after Rovanpera crashes out
- Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans crash out of Rally Finland on penultimate stage
- Gregoire Munster crashes out in Rally Finland on SS11
- Rovanpera heads Toyota 1-2-3 on home soil in WRC Rally Finland
- Tänak and Järveoja out of Rally Finland after SS3 crash
- Toyota set bring their ‘strongest’ WRC line-up to Rally Finland
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
