Rallying-Rovanpera targets F1 with switch to circuit racing from 2026
FIA World Rally Championship - Rally Sweden - Stage 7 of Second Round - Torsby, Sweden - February 15, 2020. Kalle Rovanpera of Finland (Toyota Yaris WRC) poses for a photo. TT News Agency/Micke Fransson/via REUTERS
Toyota's double world champion Kalle Rovanpera announced on Thursday he would leave rallying and switch to circuit racing next year, with Formula One and Le Mans in his sights.
The 25-year-old Finn is in the running for a third rally title, with the season ending in Saudi Arabia next month, but will compete in the Japanese Super Formula single-seater series in 2026.
Super Formula has been a springboard to both Formula Two and Formula One in the past.
"This decision has not been an easy one, but it’s one that I have been thinking about for a while," said the Finn, who became the youngest ever world rally champion in 2022, a day after his 22nd birthday.
"Having already achieved so much in rallying at this age, I started to think about what other possibilities I might have and what other challenges I would like to take on.
"I know that it’s jumping straight into the deep end, coming from rallying, but I’m really looking forward to it and together with TGR (Toyota Gazoo Racing) we have a good plan to prepare in the best way possible and to try and make the most of it."
YOUNGEST EVER WORLD RALLY WINNER
Rovanpera, the son of former rally driver Harri, is the youngest winner of a world championship rally with his first victory coming at the age of 21 in 2021.
He has already done some circuit racing, driving a Porsche in sportscar races in Europe last year when he did a partial world rally campaign.
He also did some laps in a 2012 Red Bull Formula One car at Austria's Red Bull Ring last year and he told the dirtfish.com website that he wanted to compete at the highest level.
"I know we will go Super Formula, and after this, we will work towards the next category step, which would be Formula Two, and we will see how everything goes," he said.
"I cannot tell you now which will be my ultimate goal. I have told you it’s the highest level. Formula One is the highest level, but obviously there are so many cool series and events in circuit racing."
Toyota do not have their own team in Formula One, after pulling out at the end of 2009, but have a technical partnership with Haas. They are also multiple winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours race.
Toyota rally team boss Jari-Matti Latvala said it was only natural for the driver to want to try something else while still young enough.
"We've seen racing drivers come and try rallying, but very rarely have we seen it the other way around: that a rally driver goes to circuit racing and tries to challenge the best, especially not in single-seater racing," he said.
"I don't think there are many manufacturers who could give a driver that kind of opportunity, which is a very exciting one for both sides."
Former F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion with Ferrari, competed in the world rally championship in 2010 and 2011.
Sebastien Loeb, the most successful rally driver of all time with nine championships, has raced at Le Mans and tested a Renault Formula One car in 2007 and with Red Bull in a post-season test in 2008.
The Frenchman's pace was sufficiently impressive for him to be linked to a seat with Red Bull's Toro Rosso team as a possible replacement for compatriot Sebastien Bourdais in 2009.
