The Toyota driver rekindled the devastating form that saw the Finn become the youngest ever world champion to defeat Hyundai’s Dani Sordo by 54.7s after three days of competition across Portugal’s tough gravel stages.
Rovanpera won 10 of the 19 stages, emerging with a 10.8s lead at the end of Friday despite facing the disadvantage of starting second on the road.
The 22-year-old produced one of the best performances of his career to date to extend the advantage to 57.5s, after winning five of the seven stages on Saturday, including a stunning effort on stage 9, which he won by 12.8s.
Saturday’s display allowed Rovanpera to effectively cruise through Sunday’s four stages, although Rovanpera added further gloss to the victory by taking out the Power Stage (Fafe) by 0.7s from Ott Tanak to claim the five bonus points. The second pass through the iconic Fafe featured a bumper crowd and several tributes to the late Hyundai driver Craig Breen.
A first victory since Rally New Zealand last October, where he sealed the 2022 title, has propelled Rovanpera to the top of the championship standings with a 17-point margin over Ott Tanak.
Sordo briefly led the rally after stage four but once Rovanpera took the lead on stage five he remained in second position for remaining stages.
The experienced Spaniard chalked up three stage wins on his way to a best result to date driving a Rally1 car, finishing second.
Source: Autosport