A wise head on young shoulders, Kalle Rovanperä is keen to manage what has been a very dominant start to the World Rally Championship season.
A strong performance on Rally Portugal delivered an unexpected victory from first on the road and further planted the seed that Rovanperä is the driver to beat in 2022.
With three wins in a row and already a healthy 46-point lead in the championship, the road ahead looks positive for Rovanperä, who is aiming to become the youngest ever WRC champion at just 21-years-old.
In both Croatia and Portugal, second would have been good enough to build on his early advantage in the standings, but yet Rovanperä still drove to the maximum and took a full house of points.
“Yeah of course always when I see a chance, I try to use it the best way I can,” he told DirtFish.
“And that’s the way you should do [it] – try to maximize the points always.”
As was the case for some drivers on Rally Portugal, any minor issue can make for major setbacks on the leaderboard, and it’s these problems that could define the championship come the end of the year.
With nine rallies still to tackle, Rovanperä is already looking to maintain his solid lead but capitalize on any opportunities that arise – as he did in Croatia and Portugal.
“Yeah of course [you’ve got to think about managing],” he said.
“But like I said you always need to use all the chances you get also, so if it looks you can make a good result you need to make it.”
Rovanperä starts Rally Italy this weekend in a vein of form that looks tough to beat. Title rivals such as Thierry Neuville have struggled with issues, but the Toyota driver hasn’t shown anybody any mercy.
“Yeah for a few rallies now [we’ve not given anyone a chance]. Let’s see what happens in the next ones,” he said.
“I’m feeling really good.”
The best form of defense, after all, is attack.
