Jari-Matti Latvala reveals which events led to Kalle Rovanperä’s giant decision.
- Jari-Matti Latvala says he has noticed signs of fatigue from Kalle Rovanperä. One race could turn the master’s gaze out of the rage.
- Toyota and Rovanperä disagreed with the agreement.
- Latvala also analyzes Rovanperä’s potential in formulas.
Double world champion Kalle Rovanperä announced on Thursday that he would leave the rally World Championship after the current season. Toyota’s team manager Jari-Matti Latvala Now tells you what the chef’s decision is behind.
-I think the decisive competition was the Portuguese World Rally, says Latvala.
The Portuguese World Rally was run in mid-May. Rovanperä complained about the grip problems over the weekend, but also criticized the schedules of the competition. The Finnish driver said he had been sitting on Saturday for 15 hours in a “bad sauna”, a car bench.
He wondered if contracting was no longer safe.
– It was a couple of ten minutes of breaks in between. – Tomorrow is an early wake up again, so I don’t know if it makes sense. There is a lot of talk about safety in traffic in the rally, but then there is a tired transition throughout the weekend, Rovanperä said.
Latvala describes Portugal’s weekend as a very harsh drivers. Rovanperä drove to the third overall race, but the strain was visible.
The team manager, in particular, believes that after long days of making videos has tasted like wood.
– The days were very long. There was very little time for the drivers to sleep and a lot of video work is done in the rally. I think all this was crucial. Kalle was really tired after that competition.
Jari-Matti Latvala is the head of the Toyota rally stable. Vesa Pöppönen / AOP
The Toyota and the Rovanperä team started conversations for next season just in the spring. According to Latvala, the Finnish champion was interested in driving a half season. This is how Rovanperä also worked last year.
Toyota was not enthusiastic about the idea.
– The principle of the team was that we no longer want to leave for half a year. It did not produce the result last season, was not a good solution for us. We think the full season should be done.
In the summer, Rovanperä wanted to move on to compete on the track rather than run the World Rally. Finnish co -driver Jonne Halttunen told IL that the driver told him about his decision in June.
Negotiations with Toyota continued, but instead of racing on the track instead of the rally.
– Toyota was ready to go to it and support Kalle in the decision, says Latvala.
Henri Toivonen
Kalle Rovanperä (middle) and Karturi Jonne Halttunen (right) were third in Portugal. Aop
Rovanperä will run the Japanese Super Formula series next season. The goal is to reach the F2 series in 2027 and perhaps in the future even to Formula One.
Toyota supports at least Rovanperä’s conquest of Japan.
– They clearly have the theme to develop young drivers. After all, it’s a wonderful story if you can help the world champion to the top on the track. It has not happened so far, Latvala says and continues:
-In the 1980s Henri Toivonen Went to the rally and was already fast on the track. He decided to take the rally instead of the track. One has not yet seen one that could change the sport from the top and rise to the top in a new sport.
Latvala reminds us that driving a track and rally car is indeed a different matter.
– Roughly, driving in a rally is about applying for compromises. Rally works with seconds and tithing when it comes to hundreds of hundreds. The track goes into such small details with which we are wrestling.
– If you adapt, you have the potential to rise high.
According to Latvala, it is important that Rovanperä made his bold decision now. In the age of 30, it is easier to adopt new things than as a parent.
– Sebastien’s Ogier He dreamed of a track job and went to try, but returned to the rally. He then started to be closer to forty, and he refers to the eight -time world champion of the rally.
Are Formulas Realism?
Henri Toivonen also competed on the track. Toivonen died at the Corsica Rally at the age of 29. IL Archive
Can Rovanperä really compete in the F2 or even F1 series?
Latvala believes that the master will be seen at least in Formula’s second. Instead, getting into the F1 series-let alone success-is a tough road.
– There are so many entrepreneurs there. Young people who drive karting and go out to Italy when they are young. Competition is fierce.
– Getting there, being a podium and still winning, are fierce steps. I believe he can get into formulas if there is a desire, enthusiasm and perseverance. Kalle has talent.
Latvala, on the other hand, is looking for a replacement for next season in Toyota. Washed a strong match for Swedish driver Oliver Solberg.
– Next year’s drivers don’t want to say anything in the middle of the season. I believe that next month we will get an idea, Latvala says.
The World Rally Championship will continue in the Central European race on Thursday.
Kalle Rovanperä is aiming for formulas. Vesa Pöppönen/AOP