Kalle Rovanperä refused to be drawn on what his return to a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 might mean for his future following his American outing last weekend.
The 25-year-old Finn drove a current specification Yaris for a promotional day in Tennessee on Sunday, admitting to DirtFish that he was happy to be back in a top-flight car for the first time in almost a year.
“It’s the first time I drove a proper rally car since Saudi,” he said. “It was nice. You don’t need to drive a car like this for very long before you realize that you missed it. It was nice driving Jonne’s [Halttunen] car in Finland… but this was different.
“It was a good day, the road was nice. I was able to drive it a few times to make sure I knew it and then I was just driving and enjoying.”
Asked what his presence in America and in the car meant, Rovanperä remained tight-lipped.
“Like we talked about in Finland, nothing is decided for next year,” he said. “I’m talking with Toyota about what’s possible and let’s see. And for America, it’s a nice place and I wanted to make a small holiday.
“We went to a NASCAR race the night before [the promotion day], this was really cool.”
Rovanperä departed the WRC at the end of last season to pursue a potential career shift into single seaters. The two-time world champion’s hopes of a Super Formula season were dashed, however, when he suffered balance issues in high g-force moments.
Rovanperä’s most recent seat time came at the wheel of his Toyota Supra drift car for Dream Run, the video he filmed through the closed-off streets of his hometown Jyväskylä.
“This was really nice,” he said. “Of course, the driving was good, but it was also interesting to be part of this whole filming project.”
