Kalle Rovanpera grabs early Rally Japan lead, promises full attack for WRC title

6 hours ago7 min read3 comments

Kalle Rovanperä has stormed to the front at Rally Japan, seizing the early lead with a blistering run through the 2. 75km Kuragaike Park super special stage, a statement of intent from the Toyota phenom who has declared he will hold nothing back in his audacious quest for a third World Rally Championship crown.In a breathtakingly tight opening salvo where a mere second blanketed the top eight runners, Rovanperä’s GR Yaris Rally1 pipped Hyundai’s hard-charging Ott Tänak by a razor-thin 0. 1 seconds, with the Japanese manufacturer’s home hero Takamoto Katsuta slotting into third, a further three-tenths adrift.The stage was immediately set for a tactical masterclass, a high-stakes chess match on asphalt where every corner could dictate the destiny of the championship. Trailing his Toyota stablemate and current points leader Elfyn Evans by a manageable 13 points, Rovanperä arrives in Japan riding a tidal wave of momentum from his commanding victory at last month's Central European Rally, a result that hauled him squarely back into a title fight many had considered a foregone conclusion for Evans.The 25-year-old Finnish sensation, often drawing comparisons to rallying legends like Sébastien Loeb for his preternatural car control, has openly conceded that Japan's sinuous, narrow, and often damp tarmac roads are far from his preferred playground; his best result here remains a solitary third place from the 2023 event, a testament to the unique challenges this round presents. Yet, with only the season finale in Saudi Arabia remaining after this penultimate clash, Rovanperä’s strategy is refreshingly simple and brutally effective: full attack.'It is always a tricky rally, it is not really in my comfort zone with the style of stages we have here,' Rovanperä confessed to Motorsport. com, his candour belying his fierce competitive drive.'It doesn’t matter much as we still need to try and do a strong result. We really need good points, and the first plan is to get more than Elfyn and Seb so let’s see how it goes.Obviously, there are only two more rounds to go so there is no reason to hold back with anything. ' This unwavering commitment is all the more remarkable given Rovanperä’s unconventional preparation, which saw him testing Formula 2 machinery in Spain just last week, a tantalizing preview of his planned switch to single-seater racing in 2025—a move that echoes the cross-disciplinary careers of icons like John Surtees.'It was nice to get a proper test to get real seat time and push on those cars and it went pretty well, so that was good,' he noted, downplaying the potential for whiplash-inducing whiplash between disciplines. 'Obviously, it has not been the easiest schedule for this year changing cars and going back to the rally car.It was not optimal. The neck is fine, it is still there.' But Rovanperä is not the only Toyota driver with Evans firmly in his crosshairs. The ever-dangerous Sébastien Ogier, an eight-time world champion whose career is a masterclass in relentless pursuit, finds himself in an identical points deficit to his teammate.After ceding his grip on the championship lead in Central Europe, the Frenchman is in a similarly aggressive, no-management-required frame of mind. 'Now it has become clear again that we need to perform again and there is no management in play.We need to catch back some points,' Ogier stated, his focus as sharp as the iconic crests of Col de Turini. He pinpointed the rally's new sections and the ever-looming threat of capricious weather as the primary obstacles.'To win, we often say you need to have the luck of the champion and I have expected that many times in my career. But, I also know that this sport can bite really hard when you feel you are doing a good job.I just don’t think too much about it and will give my best. ' This pincer movement from his own teammates places championship leader Elfyn Evans in a precarious position.The two-time Rally Japan winner uncharacteristically found himself down in a tied sixth after the opening stage, a full eight-tenths shy of Rovanperä’s benchmark and nestled behind Toyota junior Sami Pajari and Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux. While Evans will have the nominal advantage of opening the road on Friday, sweeping away the slippery surface grime for his pursuers, his slender 13-point cushion feels more fragile than ever under the twin assaults from within his own garage.'The feeling is ok, like always it is technical here and quite twisty. It is the same story as usual but let’s see how the weekend will play out,' Evans remarked, his characteristic calm belying the immense pressure.'We have to try our best to not make a mistake obviously and also to drive quickly, and try to be as accurate as we can. It is not easy here to get the balance right.It is the same for everyone. You have to take as many points as you can.It is simple. ' Meanwhile, the Hyundai camp presents a multifaceted threat.Tänak, just a tenth off the lead, remains a formidable force, though speculation about his WRC future continues to swirl, adding another layer of intrigue to the weekend. Thierry Neuville, a perennial front-runner, ended the opening day in eighth, a second off the ultimate pace but ahead of M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster and the newly crowned WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg.For Neuville, the goal is consolidation and data gathering. 'We need to look forward and try to have a clean rally and that is the only thing we can do at the moment, and try to give good feedback back to the team,' he said, a soldier focused on the broader campaign.As the rally embarks on its first full day with six demanding special stages, the narrative extends beyond a simple points tally. This is a showdown of philosophies: Rovanperä’s youthful audacity and cross-disciplinary ambition versus Evans’s methodical consistency, with the wily experience of Ogier lying in wait to capitalize on any misstep.The narrow, technical roads of Japan, much like the iconic Camp Nou pitch demands both individual brilliance and team strategy, will test not just car setup and pace notes, but the very mettle of these gladiators. Every braking zone, every clipped apex, every committed exit becomes a data point in a high-speed equation that will determine whether the championship fight concludes under the neon lights of Toyota’s home event or is dramatically extended to the desert sands of the Middle East.

#lead focus news

#Kalle Rovanpera

#Rally Japan

#World Rally Championship

#Toyota

#Elfyn Evans

#title fight

#asphalt stages

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