Rovanperä beams with majestic aura, after conquering adversities

Round 4 of the 2022 WRC is Rally de Portugal. As one of the few classic events which have continued since the founding of the WRC, Portugal has hosted the first European gravel rally of the season. The season opener in Monte Carlo and the following round in Sweden on snow and ice involve complex factors from different aspects other than drivers’ abilities and the inherent speed of their cars. Round 4 of the season is the first rally to prove drivers’ skills on gravel. Gravel surfaces make up the bulk in a WRC season, which means the development of this round also has an important function in predicting the year.
Depending on each rally, gravel surfaces can be very different, among which, Portugal’s is an average surface, neither extremely rough nor smooth. It’s always the case in gravel rallies that the earlier in the starting order, the harder it gets to set a good time as you are forced to be a road sweeper. In Portugal, where sandy terrain is common, the last driver to start first on Day 1 and claim victory was Ogier in 2017. This time, the driver who started first was Kalle Rovanperä, who has led the championship so far.
With this system in place of starting from the top of the championship table, which is disadvantageous, those drivers with higher points have no choice but to somehow manage Day 1 to minimize time loss, and to be able to compete on the same playing field from Day 2 onwards, but it is extremely difficult.
Rovanperä was forced to tackle the sand-covered road surfaces even before battling with other drivers. His early times were mediocre, and just slightly behind the top group, however, considering the running order, this was a great achievement, and the delay was not critical. During the second half of Day 1, where the same stages were repeated, his handicap was reduced, and with the two fastest times, he moved up to 3rd. Furthermore, because
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville fell behind, the Finn finished Day 1 in 2nd.
On Day 2, as a result of a sea-saw battle with Elfyn Evans, who had been in the lead since the beginning of Day 1, Rovanperä overtook the number 1, and by widening the gap even further on Day 3, the final day, eventually came out on top. It is the 3rd consecutive win for Rovanperä since the Swedish round. The highlight this time was not the moment he took the lead or his triumphant drive on Day 3, the final day, but his driving on Day 1, where he endured and kept time loss to a minimum. It may not look fancy, but this is a feat that only a truly capable driver can achieve, and also a straightforward answer to the challenges that championship leaders may face on loose surfaces in the upcoming rallies in the championship.
Any skilled driver can drive fast in good conditions. However, only a potential champion can find an opportunity to win while minimising time loss in poor conditions. It is significant that the baby-faced Finn at the tender age of 21 won back-to-back in the face of adversities in two consecutive rallies. Although only 4 rounds have been completed in this year’s WRC, it seems as if this season may belong to Rovanperä.

Should the old soldiers just retire?

Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier also participated in this rally. Although they are not competing for the title this season, it is still fresh in our memories that these two fought for the win in the season opener in Monte Carlo That’s why there were some expectations that they might win this time again over the regular drivers, and I thought that would be a possibility, too because both were to start advantageously from the back of the pack on Day 1, and if they were involved in the battle for the top position, they wouldn’t have a disadvantageous starting order from Day 2 onwards.
As a matter of fact, Loeb set the fastest time on SS4 to take the lead, but on the following SS5, he retired after hitting a concrete wall. Ogier, in the meantime, was maintaining 3rd place with a few seconds gap, but on SS6 where he only had one spare tire, he had 2 punctures and it was all over.
They both restarted on the next day, but Loeb, who started 1st, then had to stop due to a significant loss of engine power. Ogier, who was in 2nd behind Loeb, went off the road on the same stage and withdrew. Loeb didn’t run on Day 3, the final day while Ogier started at the front of the pack and completed the hard rally but only managed 51st overall.
So it was a disastrous rally for both drivers; however, Loeb led the rally until he retired, and Ogier, despite his disadvantageous start from the front, set around 5th fastest time, which is comparable to Rovanperä on Day 1. These two are not done yet. It could be said that they both simply didn’t have any luck. They will most likely compete in Round 6 Safari. It will be interesting to watch whether they will allow the generation change to continue, or show their old men’s determination.

A podium within his reach- Katsuta’s great battle

This time, Takamoto Katsuta put on a remarkable driving show. With spins and recovery hassles as well as a series of 3rd fastest times achieved with his own ability, we couldn’t take our eyes off his battle for 3rd place against veteran Dani Sord from Day 1 to Day 3. Although he had to concede the podium by a narrow margin to Sordo, who had pushed hard on Day 3, the last day, the 4th place after a long fierce battle carries more weight than a windfall 3rd place. This was a great leap forward for Katsuta to be able to continue to fight for a position throughout the rally as he has often endured a battle to just finish rallies. He must have woken up under the strain of the intense fight. We look forward to his performance in the next event as well as Rovanperä’s.