At the start of the year, five drivers in World Rally Championship history had successfully defended the title. In 2023, Kalle Rovanpera underlined his special talent to become the sixth.
The Toyota star’s march to a second consecutive crown was in many ways more impressive than his record-breaking run to become the youngest-ever world champion last year. Knowing the competition would be tougher as drivers and teams acclimatised to hybrid rules introduced last year, Rovanpera added incredible consistency and clever driving to his already blistering speed.
The 23-year-old finished no worse than fourth while taking three wins in a campaign that was blighted by only one costly error, when the Finn crashed out of the lead on home soil, his only retirement of the season.
His blend of speed and maturity beyond his years delivered the title with a round to spare after seeing off Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. This was despite eyebrows being raised after finishing the opening four events with only one podium.
That Rovanpera scored half as many wins than in 2022 but notched up only five points fewer summed up his consistency. He accumulated 72 stage wins (two more than he managed last year), nearly twice as many as the next highest total, amassed by Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. He was again king of the Power Stage, taking 43 bonus points.
Rovanpera’s most impressive drives came in Estonia and Greece. In the Baltic nation, he delivered a crushing Sebastien Loeb-like domination that included a string of 13 consecutive stage wins. Then his mesmerising knack for mastering slippery conditions, knowing exactly when and where to push, was showcased on his way to comfortably winning by 1m31.7s in a gruelling, high-attrition Acropolis Rally.
“I’m quite proud of the year and I think the performance was more important,” he reckons. “The competition was stronger and there weren’t many easy points to get like last year when there was much more trouble between everybody.”
Joining Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Tommi Makinen, Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion as drivers to take back-to-back WRC crowns proves that Rovanpera already deserves to be classed among the greatest in series history. But a third consecutive title is highly unlikely – he plans to conduct a partial season to “recharge my batteries” next year before returning to full-time competition in 2025.
