Rovanperä’s plan to take his title back

Many see the two-time world champion as the favorite, but he's in the hunting position rather than the hunted

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Kalle Rovanperä is quick to point it out. Retaining the World Rally Championship title he voluntarily surrendered in 2024 is the “only goal” for 2025.

But how does he go about doing that?

Unlike his rivals Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, Elfyn Evans et al, Rovanperä doesn’t have experience of fighting for the title with the new Super Sunday points system in place.

But equally, he is Kalle Rovanperä. Such a limitation is unlikely to be a limitation to him.

He is, however, embarking on a WRC season in the unfamiliar position of being world champion but not going in as the hunted. Instead he’s the hunter, striving to steal number one status back from Neuville.

“Of course, our goal is to be back fighting for the title,” said the Finn.

“I think the competition is going to be again tighter than ever before, so yeah, it’s going to be interesting. But of course, that’s our only goal in the season. So yeah, I try to do the best I can to be back in the fight.

“Since last year, Thierry has to be one of the top guys to beat. Everybody is after him now. So, yeah, we are also.

“It’s a different situation for us also. We are after him and, yeah, let’s see how it goes and who will be in the fight.”

Rovanperä can take confidence in the fact he has beaten all of his 2025 rivals to the championship before. Neuville hasn’t beaten Rovanperä to the title over the course of a full season; nor has 2019 champion Tänak. Evans, ironically, has beaten them all, only to be pipped to the title by the now part-time Sébastien Ogier.

Strategizing for the season ahead, Rovanperä is aware his 2024 approach – where he simply drove hard for rally wins – will not work when there’s a drivers’ championship to think about.

“Last year we were fast, [but] I didn’t have as many clean rallies as I would have wanted to. This year it’s again a different goal,” he explained.

“We need to be more consistent. You need to be consistent through the whole year to be in the title fight. So maybe we need to take a bit less risks, but be in the fight all the time.”

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Rovanperä is aware he'll need a different approach to last year with a championship to consider

The two-time champion proved he could do just that with the fashion he clinched the 2023 championship. That year, his season started off with a strong second place in Monte Carlo – highest of the championship contenders with Ogier topping the event.

A conservative Monte has tended to be the 24-year-old’s style, and there’s little sign of that changing. In his four previous starts in a top car, he’s finished on the podium just once.

By contrast, Neuville won the rally last year in a statement drive that teed up his title-winning campaign, but Rovanperä doesn’t have designs on such heroics. Simply surviving this week with a decent haul of points will do him.

“Monte has never been my strongest race,” he confessed. “We have had actually a few good results, but yeah, I’m just happy if we can have a clean race in Monte, good points to start the season and that’s the main goal.”

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