Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen delivered a faultless performance to conquer the WRC’s most gruelling event in style.
The two-time world champions, competing in a partial season this year, won seven of the 19 demanding gravel stages but crucially were the only Rally1 pairing to avoid any punctures, accidents or mechanical issues.
Rovanpera was able to judge his pace in the tricky conditions that allowed the Finn to build a lead of more than two minutes before opting to back off on Sunday, eventually taking the win by 1m37.8s from Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.
“It is always special, this event is so tough and also it is a legendary event for Toyota, and we have always been good here and we are still continuing to do that,” said Rovanpera, who chalked up his 12th career WRC win. “Like they say here in Africa: ‘The car in front is always a Toyota’.
“I have to say a big thanks to the team, everyone made a big effort to make the car work so well. I think me and Jonne did a good job, I think you cannot do a better Safari Rally than what we did, we had no issues for the whole weekend, and it was clever driving. I think it was a good effort.
Source: Autosport