The rally champions were celebrated in a folk festival in Jyväskylä. From the next year, the rally champion made a tickling comment.
Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were able to celebrate their rally car world championship at their home venue in Jyväskylä on Thursday.
Toyota’s champion couple arrived in style in front of a large audience at Lutakonaukio. In the Toyota Rally1 racer, Rovanperä put the paper on the floor, so to speak, and blew up the snow properly while drifting spectacularly.
– There was so little traction, and there were no proper spiked wheels underneath, so you couldn’t do really terrible stunts. But it was still nice to skate, Rovanperä mused.
The World Rally Championship season was wrapped up just under a month ago, but Rovanperä and Halttus have been busy since then. Last week they represented at the Independence Day reception, after which they rushed to Azerbaijan to bag their championship trophy.
– It’s been a pretty tight month. And now it’s slowly starting to be enough, Rovanperä carved.
– Out of all the opportunities, this felt like the best. Great to see when our own fans were here.
Map reader Halttunen was completely on the same lines. The past month has been extremely difficult.
– We have been on almost the same trip since the Japan rally. Haven’t really had time to stop, and there have been a couple of Christmases in between. But now, luckily, the vacation begins, which we have both been waiting for, Halttunen said.
How many rallies?
Rovanperä dropped quite a news bomb after the World Rally in Japan, which ended the season, when he said that he would only drive a part of the next season’s World Rally.
The young champion wants to recharge his batteries a little next year, but the intention is to return with a full program in the 2025 season.
– I had been thinking about this solution for quite some time. Then it just started to feel like it was the right choice to ride a short season. You can calm down a bit and take things more relaxed. To a large extent, this is my own youth and young adulthood gone after the rally around the world. It’s certainly good to take a moment a little more calmly, Rovanperä reasoned.
Rovanperä has not yet finalized its competition program for next season. With these prospects, he will start his career at the Swedish Rally in February.
– We will still go through with the team which competitions are best suited to the calendar. Of course, it also depends on where Sebastien Ogier drive.
– I can’t say about the number of competitions yet. The goal is six or seven races, but it could be three or thirteen. We don’t know that yet, Rovanperä continued.
Christmas in peace
The rally champions have had enough of cat crosses after the end of the season. Now it’s time to calm down for Christmas. PDO
But now the champions can relax for a while. They celebrate Christmas in traditional ways.
– I will definitely say hello to the family. In the meantime, I still go elsewhere, but the best thing is a peaceful Christmas with my family, Rovanperä said.
– I have the same thing – family Christmas is the best. After that, I thought I would head north and stay there for a few weeks, Halttunen opened up about his plans.