How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya

Kalle Rovanpera may have switched to a part-time campaign for 2024, but he demonstrated he has dropped none of his World Rally champion credentials with a flawless victory at the Safari Rally, while this year’s WRC title contenders all hit trouble which has shaken up the championship contest

“I think you cannot do a better Safari Rally than what we did,” said Kalle Rovanpera as he clambered out of his Toyota GR Yaris after a dominant run to a second career Safari Rally victory. The reserved yet supremely talented double world champion is not one for making big statements, often preferring modesty when discussing his own skills and achievements. But on this occasion, it’s difficult to disagree with his claim as Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen delivered one of the most intelligent and faultless performances ever witnessed on the World Rally Championship’s toughest rally.

The Safari Rally is renowned as a battle of attrition, where survival takes precedence over outright speed. Crews expect trials and tribulations while attempting to tame Kenya’s wild terrain, unpredictable weather and car-destroying roads. However, this wasn’t the case for Rovanpera as his “clever” driving coupled with a bulletproof Toyota left his rivals in the distance.

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Author Tom Howard

Tom Howard is a News Editor working across both Autosport.com and Motorsport.com websites. Starting out as a sports reporter in local newspapers, Tom focussed on motorsport covering several national championships in the UK, including the BTCC.

After a period working as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Australia in 2013 landing a job at leading Australian motorsport news outlet speedcafe.com, covering international motorsport events including F1, WRC and Supercars. Progressing to Editor in 2017, Tom was named Motorsport Australia Journalist of the Year for his work. He is also a two-time winner of Supercars Journalist of The Year (2017,2019) and a Supercars Championship Media Award winner in 2019.

Tom moved back to his native UK in 2020, firstly working in BTCC, before joining Autosport and motorsport.com in 2021.