Will he? Won’t he? It’s rare that a driver starting first on the road on a hot, gravel round of the World Rally Championship is so heavily tipped for success, but such is the form Kalle Rovanperä is in right now, it’s beginning to feel like the impossible is always possible.
Should the Toyota driver claim another victory on this weekend’s Rally Italy, it’ll be his fourth WRC win in a row following successes on the snow of Sweden, asphalt of Croatia and gravel of Portugal.
It would rightfully be lauded as a remarkable achievement and would surely put this year’s championship all but out the reach of Rovanperä’s rivals.
But it has been done before.
In fact the record for consecutive WRC wins is six. Any guesses as to who achieved that milestone? Yep, Sébastien Loeb.
Loeb managed six event wins on the bounce twice throughout his illustrious career; setting the record in 2005 with victories in New Zealand, Sardinia, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and Argentina behind the wheel of a Citroën Xsara WRC – all from first on the road on the opening day!
He then matched his own benchmark in 2008 and ’09, winning the 2008 season finale in Wales before powering his C4 WRC to first place on the opening five rounds of 2009: Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Portugal and Argentina.
Loeb had runs of five straight wins as well as four as well throughout his career – as did another Frenchman Didier Auriol. But when was the most recent time a driver scored four WRC wins on the spin?
Step forward the other French World Rally champion: Sébastien Ogier.
After three dominant seasons with Volkswagen’s Polo R WRC that yielded three drivers and three manufacturers’ titles, Ogier and VW were overwhelming favorites for yet more silverware in 2016.
Ultimately that’s exactly what the partnership managed to do – and at a relative canter – although it wasn’t always Ogier that was winning rallies.
After victories on both the Monte and Sweden, Ogier would have to wait another six events for his third win of the season as an incredible run of six events with six different winners unraveled.
VW team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala won in Mexico while Hayden Paddon grabbed a maiden WRC win – in a final stage shootout against Ogier – in Argentina. Kris Meeke, completing a part program in a Citroën, then dominated in Portugal before Thierry Neuville won in Sardinia.
It was Andreas Mikkelsen’s turn to win in Poland – although it could’ve been another different winner in Ott Tänak had he not cruelly got a puncture – to complete the run as Meeke broke it with a win in Finland that still stands to this day as the fastest in world championship history.
As this remarkable run was unfolding Ogier stayed consistent with podiums in all but two of the events, marking himself as the champion elect.
But once the WRC was back onto asphalt Ogier flew, winning Rally Germany and Corsica and atoned for his unexpected powerstage mistake 12 months earlier to also win in Spain.
Rally GB completed the quadruple – and completed an astonishing personal record in Wales as Ogier led the event for every single stage he started in the country with a Polo R WRC – and the run could’ve stretched to five but for Mikkelsen edging Ogier in an all-VW fight in Australia.
Rovanperä therefore can’t make history if he bags a fourth WRC win in a row in Sardinia, but he’ll certainly not be in bad company with his potential accomplishment.
