Rovanperä to start 2025 with 24-hour race debut

Two-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä will step up to a Porsche 911 GT3R for his maiden day-long race in Dubai

Kalle GT3

Dubai. It’s a long way from the frozen twists and turns of a Thursday night run over the Bréziers stage, but it’s where Kalle Rovanperä will start his 2025 season.

Just over a week before the 24-year-old is due in Monte Carlo for the round one recce, he’ll make his 24-hour race debut at 24h Dubai. Having won three Porsche Carrera Cup rounds through 2024, Rovanperä will step up to drive a Huber Racing Porsche 911 GT3R next month.

“I’m really excited to race for the first time with a GT3 car,” said Rovanperä. “For sure, there are new things to learn about the GT3 car, and it’s also the first time I’m sharing a car with other drivers.

“However, I’m confident of finding performance and speed during the weekend, together with Huber Racing. The 24-hour race gives us a lot of track time.”

The two-time World Rally Champion will share the Porsche with countrymen Jukka Honkavuori and Jani Käkelä as well as fellow racers Mark Wallenwein and Joel Monegro.

“I’m grateful to everybody for making this happen,” added Rovanperä, who will be joining one of the biggest grids of the season with 84 cars making the 1300 start at Dubai Autodrome on Saturday January 11.

Porsche’s GT3R is a step on in terms of performance for Rovanperä, with a 4.2-liter engine replacing the four-liter version he’s driven in the Cup car. He’ll have around 565bhp, 55 more than before along with improved aerodynamics and less weight.

None of this will worry the factory Toyota pilot, of course, having driven Red Bull’s RB8 earlier this season, not to mention Jason Black’s 380bhp Starlet in the pouring rain at last month’s Killarney Historic Rally.

Huber Racing owner Christoph Huber is pleased to have a two-time world champion joining his line-up. He said: “[It’s] Amazing to have an exceptional driver like Kalle to join us in Dubai. He has shown his versatility as a driver and impressive results in his first circuit races in the Porsche Carrera Cup last season. I’m eager to see him taking this new step to GT3 and how we at Huber Racing can support him.”

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