It’s an odd statement on paper.
Kalle Rovanperä simply disappeared into the distance on Rally Islas Canarias, not giving anyone so much as a crumb of comfort as he ruthlessly annihilated his Rally1 rivals by winning 15 of the 18 stages. And two of the three he missed were short superspecials where he’d chosen caution over glory.
But Juha Kankkunen’s verdict on his compatriot’s win was to the point: “I am not impressed,” he said.
Make no mistake, Kankkunen isn’t being negative. He’s not looking at the three ‘missed’ stage wins and demanding perfection.
Normality had been temporarily disrupted by Rovanperä’s tricky start to the season. For Kankkunen, the regular Kalle is back in town.
“He did seven rallies last year; he won four out of them,” highlighted the four-time world champion. “He was world champion two years ago. So he hasn’t lost his talent or his driving. I was not surprised.
“When he finds everything 100% all right, and finds the fifth gear from the gearbox, then he’s quite a fast boy.”
Kankkunen’s final comment was an ominous one: “You will see this year,” he concluded.
Rovanperä’s mighty Canarias drive has vaulted him into second in the drivers' standings
Rovanperä’s championship fightback is now in full swing, leaping from sixth to second in the drivers’ championship in Gran Canaria and cutting the gap to team-mate Elfyn Evans from 57 to 43 points.
Kankkunen was keen to highlight that the team’s other points-scorers in Canarias had also held up their end of the bargain during the season so far – and it wasn’t only the Rovanperä show.
“The whole team, like Elfyn,” continued Kankkunen, “has done a really good job. Séb [Ogier] has done two rallies [finishing] first and second, first in Monte, and he’s fourth in the championship with two results. And Elfyn is leading by far with really good results, winning the last two.”
As for the rally winner, he’d already expressed relief that he’d rediscovered a similar vein of form to that which made him world champion in 2022 and 2023. Unsurprisingly, he ranked his Canarias effort as one of the strongest wins of his career.
“It has definitely been one of the best weekends we have ever done,” said Rovanperä. “It’s not so often on this level when you can do results like this anymore.”
