The World Rally Championship will be a tight race next season, warns reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä.
Ott Tänäk will command M-Sport’s Ford Puma Rally1 car next year. Anu Laitila / AOP
Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä went to pick up the championship pole at the International Automobile Federation FIA gala in Bologna on Friday. Rovanperä was in a class of his own this year after taking a total of six competition victories.
Hyundai driver Ott Tänak was finally Rovanperä’s closest threat in the World Cup battle, but he too was 50 points away from the Finn. Next year, Tänak will go hunting with a new vehicle, M-Sport’s Ford Puma Rally1 car.
M-Sport announced earlier this week that Tänak will become the team’s number one driver. Rovanperä had time to comment on Tänak’s decision during Friday’s gala.
– It’s nice to see that Ott is going to M-Sport. Now every team has winning drivers for the whole season, Rovanperä said at the gala press conference.
– There is an even bigger challenge ahead than this year. We have to push even harder and perform consistently, the Finnish star added.
As Rovanperä mentioned, every team has a driver next season who can fight for the championship. Driving as Hyundai’s number one Thierry Neuvillewho gets as a team mate Esapekka Lapin.
At the beginning of this year, Hyundai was clearly behind Toyota, but from the summer on, the team was in good shape.
– Next year will be more difficult in terms of fighting for the championship. All teams, especially Hyundai, are closer to us than at the beginning of the season, Rovanperä said.
The World Rally Championship season starts after the middle of January, when points are scored with the challenging special stages of the Monte Carlo Rally.