Kalle Rovanperä organized quite a few media circus on the eve of the Central European World Championship in Germany.
Kalle Rovanperä explained the background of the Jymy surprise. Aop
Kalle Rovanperä Last week, he announced that he will leave the rally World Championships after the current season and move full time to track driving.
The Finnish star will run next year in the Japanese Super Formula series, and he has set his final goal at the very top: the F1 series.
On Wednesday, Rovanperä stepped in front of the media for the first time after his announcement. Rarely, the event in the World Rally Championship has attracted the same number of media representatives.
Iltalehti captured Rovanperä for an interview after the event. The Finnish star was clearly relieved when the big news was now public. According to Rovanperä, the final decision was made early in the summer.
– My interest in the horizontal cup was the most weighed. This was something I wanted to do for a while, and there is a great interest in it. Then we started chatting with Toyota and they also realized that I was really ready to put myself and do it properly. Then they too became excited about the idea, Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä blows new winds. Vesa Pöppönen/AOP
If desired, Rovanperä could have continued as a Toyota driver in the World Rally Championship. But the double world champion wanted to challenge himself in another way.
An important factor behind the decision was that the Japanese manufacturer pays the Finnish driver Lyst.
– When we started doing such a program, it was quite clear and such a good chance that it could not be left unused. When you get some big support and such program from the car manufacturer, you have to go test, Rovanperä smiled.
Following the Rovanperä news bomb, several experts have estimated that Rovanperä has an almost impossible construction site to reach the very top in formulas.
Rovanperä will run next season in the Japanese Super Formula series. Ves Pöppönen/AOP
At his press conference, he said that he was likely to get his so -called peat in his first race in Japan. Or if you don’t, then something is worse once in a while.
– The biggest thing about the horizontal cup in such a decision is that it has a big risk. I put myself most of it. It’s a big change, and a lot of things have to go right that everything goes well.
– But I’m ready to take the risk, I’ve already achieved everything I wanted and what I had on my list. I’d rather go on this interesting new option, Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä is only 25 years old on the meter. There have been two World Championship titles in the rally, and if the pieces fall into place in a favorable way, he will leave the sport as a triple champion.
But withdrawal from special stages may not be final.
– I wanted to make this transition as early as possible, because if everything goes well, I have every chance to do the track and get as high as possible – wherever the skills are enough.
– Still, I’m still young. Or I’m not old when it has happened. I can’t say I wouldn’t see me here again. Of course I don’t know how it is, but it is very possible. There’s still a lot of time to drive these things, Rovanperä said.
The Central European World Rally will start on Thursday with two special stages. Rovanperä is third in the World Series 21-point series leader From the Ogier of Sébastien.