The reigning world rally champion heads to Finland after producing arguably his most dominant drive yet to claim a 10th career WRC win in Estonia two weeks ago.
Rovanpera continued a perfect lead up to his home event by winning the Hyacenter Rally in Tampere, Finland last weekend, after defeating Toyota WRC team-mate Elfyn Evans by 11.6s across the eight stages.
However, the 22-year-old is expecting a much tougher test to become the first Finn to win Rally Finland since Esapekka Lappi's run to his only WRC win to date in 2017.
Rovanpera will face the disadvantage of starting first on the fast gravel roads while three-time Rally Finland winner M-Sport’s Ott Tanak will start fourth.
The Finn also has one eye on his championship lead, which stands at 55 points over Evans, as he aims to become only the sixth driver in 50 years to successfully defend a WRC crown this season.
“Finland is definitely going to be trickier. Knowing Ott will be starting in a better position than last year, it is not going to be easy but it is home rally and I need to try and do my best,” Rovanpera told Autosport.
“It would be special [to win] but also I want to stay clever with the championship fight let’s say.
Source: Autosport