Kalle Rovanpera says losing a likely maiden World Rally Championship victory on home soil on the penultimate stage is “quite an unreal feeling” after a near perfect Rally Finland.
The two-time world champion was on course to become the first Finn to win the event since 2015, having won 11 stages that helped the Toyota driver into 45.8s lead over team-mate Sebastien Ogier heading into stage 19.
However, Rovanpera was unable to avoid a rock in the road that pitched his GR Yaris into a roll that ended his rally on the spot, handing the victory to Ogier.
It was the second Rally Finland in a row where Rovanpera has rolled out of a lead at his home event. The Finn said there was “no chance” to avoid the rock.
“Basically, the last proper corner of the stage, quite high-speed, a fourth-gear corner, and when you go into the driving line a bit later on, the middle of the corner, there was some rocks and there was no chance to avoid it in any way,” Rovanpera told Motorsport.com.
“We just took the hit and that was really big, then we saw the rock later and it as a really big one.
“There was no rock for the guys in front of us, I only saw the onboard and there was nothing.”
Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
After losing out on a likely victory after dominating the rally, Rovanpera, added: “It is a quite unbelievable feeling when you do the whole weekend perfectly, the team and everybody has done a great job and we were so fast and had no moments or issues, all the time we were in control.
“Then something like this happens and you cannot avoid it yourself, it is quite an unreal feeling.”
Rovanpera’s team-mate Elfyn Evans, who crashed out on the first corner of the same stage moments before the incident admitted it was “super unlucky”.
“I really feel for him there is nothing you can do in that situation,” Evans told Motorsport.com.
“We’ve seen so many guys have accidents like this in the past Seb [Ogier] has had one in testing, [Hayden] Paddon had one here one year and couldn’t start the rally.
“It’s probably the one of the biggest risks, let’s say in Rally Finland, is like having a loose stone on top of a rut like that. At high speed the car is low and you’re just a passenger.”