Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä missed the lead by more than 40 seconds on Friday morning’s World Rally Championship in Sardinia.
Kalle Rovanperä leads the World Rally Championship in points. AOP
The young Finnish driver got on the route as the first car and the role of a road pioneer was supposedly difficult. Kalle Rovanperä also experienced a frightening situation at the third sprint of the day as the GR Yaris Rally1 slipped wide on a high-speed bend.
– It was difficult, as expected. In the third section, the back wing came off as we walked quite wide. Fortunately, nothing else happened to the car. The last stretch was pretty hard to drive after that, Rovanperä repeated.
– The lack of a wing affected quite a lot in the last stretch, much more than I expected. When you drove in a higher gear than three, it didn’t really become anything. It felt like the whole car was in the air, and not just the stern.
In Rovanperä’s situation, there were even ingredients to interrupt, but this time luck was on the way.
– That bend went just fine on the first run, and I remembered the place. It was just a little slippery. The wing hit a tree. I didn’t go to see it anymore. I expected the whole back corner to stay there, but luckily there was nothing in the bush, Rovanperä stated.
In the afternoon run, Rovanperä’s goal is to raise the ranking by at least a few notches, so that the starting point is not hopeless on Saturday either.
– It would be important to get a few places, if at all possible. At least the first piece of the afternoon jog is one where the plows have disappeared quite insanely in all the years. R5 cars have often become tougher there as well. It’s a really slippery piece and a lot of loose gravel on the road, Rovanperä summed up.
– There is really nothing to do but just drive as nicely as possible. Sure, you can push there on steep stretches, but then you can become a flat tire and lose a lot more. Just trying to drive smart.