Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen delivered a masterclass performance to end Finland’s eight-year wait for a home winner at Secto Rally Finland, claiming victory in record-breaking fashion on Sunday.
The pair dominated the fastest rally in FIA World Rally Championship history, maintaining an average speed of 129.95kph across four days of flat-out action to win by 39.2sec.
Their triumph capped an extraordinary weekend that saw Toyota Gazoo Racing achieve only the second 1-2-3-4-5 sweep in WRC history, matching Lancia’s feat on Rally de Portugal in 1990. Juha Kankkunen played a role in both – as a driver in 1990 and today as the deputy team principal for the Jyväskylä-based squad.
Rovanperä seized the lead on Friday morning’s opening stage and never relinquished control, methodically building his advantage throughout the weekend. Drama on Saturday saw Hyundai rivals Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux eliminated from contention by identical tyre deflations and handed the 24-year-old crucial breathing space heading into Sunday’s finale.
Clean runs through both passes of the legendary Ouninpohja stage ensured Rovanperä’s maiden home victory was never in doubt, while simultaneously catapulting him back into championship contention. He now sits second in the standings, just three points behind leader Elfyn Evans after round nine of 14.
“It’s quite an amazing feeling,” Rovanperä smiled. “Obviously we have been close a few times here and I just felt we really needed to do it this year. Big thanks to everyone at the workshop for doing a great job with the car. We really worked hard for this one, I was driving really on the limit this weekend and really pushing a lot. We really needed the points, and it was good at the end.”
Behind the winner, an intense battle raged for the remaining podium positions with just 8.9sec blanketing Takamoto Katsuta, Sébastien Ogier and Evans at the finish.
Katsuta held his nerve to secure second place by 5.9sec over Ogier, celebrating his best result since February’s Rally Sweden. Ogier, meanwhile, held the final podium spot by just 3.0sec after an intense final-day showdown with Evans.
Sami Pajari completed Toyota’s historic lockout in fifth ahead of Hyundai’s Neuville, while Fourmaux retired his i20 N Rally1 car less than a kilometre from the finish. Their team-mate Ott Tänak fell from first to fourth in the championship, finishing 10th overall after accident damage and a five-minute time penalty ended his chance to fight for a podium on Friday
M-Sport Ford crews filled the remaining top-10 positions, with Josh McErlean leading team-mates Mārtinš Sesks and Grégoire Munster home in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
The WRC now heads to South America for the inaugural ueno Rally del Paraguay, with the gravel event based in Encarnación from 28 – 31 August.
Rally Classification:
1. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris 2h 21m 51.4s
2. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +39.2s
3. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +45.1s
4. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +48.1s
5. S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +1m 18.8s
6. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +2m 1.5s
Drivers’ Championship Standings (After round 9 of 14):
1. E Evans 176 pts
2. K Rovanperä 173pts
3. S Ogier 163 pts
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