Kalle Rovanperä crowned youngest WRC champion in history

Kalle Rovanperä has made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion after guiding his Toyota GR Yaris to victory on Rally New Zealand, which finished on October 2.

Rovanperä scored his sixth victory of the WRC campaign and secured his breakthrough world championship title just a day after his 22nd birthday. It means he shaves a full five years and 108 days off the former youngest WRC champion, Colin McRae, who triumphed back in 1995.

Rovanperä, the son of one-time WRC winner Harri, has already been driving for years, and made his competition debut when he was just 10 years old. A factory Toyota driver by 19, he became the WRC’s youngest event victor last season when he won in Estonia at just 20 years, 11 months and 17 days old.

At this age, it’s likely Rovanperä still has a lot left in the tank for the future. However, his Toyota team boss, ex-WRC ace Jari-Matti Latvala, reckoned he’d have a fight on his hands to add more titles.

“I would say Kalle can be quite relaxed, at least until the end of this season,” Latvala said. “But I think the most difficult thing is, after you get there once and achieve what you have been dreaming of since you were a child, making that second [title] can be slightly harder because you have to keep your motivation up.

“I think at the beginning of the new season, it’s very important to stay motivated. That is the challenge he has to face. After getting the first championship, there can be a little moment where you can relax too much. But if you want to win again, you have to keep working hard.”