Two weeks prior to the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, Hyundai’s trio of drivers were putting the i20 N Rally1 through its paces.
Toyota’s drivers were doing the same thing with the Yaris; M-Sport’s tests were about to come.
But while everyone else went home and thought about what they’d learned, preparing themselves for the rally ahead, Kalle Rovanperä packed his helmet, boarded the jumbo and headed for Dubai to race in a 24-hour event.
Last year was all about trying new things for the two-time World Rally champion – racing a Porsche a key pillar of that quest. Those extra-curricular activities spilled into the new year, with Rovanperä entered for Proton Huber in the gruelling race.
But back to the day job a fortnight later, the Finn was perplexed – unable to unlock the raw pace he’s famed for, and struggling to adapt his driving style to the WRC’s new Hankook rubber on dry Tarmac.
To Rovanperä’s credit he made the most out of a bad weekend, stealing fourth place from Ott Tänak on the powerstage and topping up his haul with six points (from a possible 10) on Sunday.
It means that despite his struggles, he’s only eight points shy of the highest-placed full-season rival: Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. And of course, Monte Carlo has never been a favorite of Rovanperä’s.
But equally, it was hardly the sort of performance that will have Kalle’s rivals quaking in their boots.
“No, it wasn’t the best,” Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala confessed to DirtFish, “but it wasn’t bad on the other hand.
“I mean Kalle doesn’t like this rally, this is the truth, you know, and he was taking the good points for the championship at the end.”
But Latvala wonders if Rovanperä’s time spent on the circuits caught him out a bit on the Monte. After all, the overwhelming majority of Rovanperä’s asphalt driving last year was in a race car, not a rally car.
“Probably it was a bit difficult with the conditions, especially with the mud,” Latvala explained.
Rovanperä's recent Tarmac experience has been in consistent conditions, unlike the Monte
“I think he has been driving now on a race circuit and likes more the consistent grip, and going back to the inconsistent grip was something that he had to face and learn again.
“So I would say, generally speaking, you can see that Kalle is a friend of mud once it’s on the top of the gravel, but not on the top of the Tarmac.”
Latvala however has lost no confidence in Rovanperä’s ability to both win rallies and, ultimately, this year’s championship.
“Wait and see,” he teased, “but there are rallies where he will come this year [and] he will be very strong.
“But Kalle is a very clever driver that if he doesn’t have the feeling, he doesn’t force it. And that’s something that I never learned myself in my active years, which I should have learned.”
