World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä wants to compete in the full WRC season again in 2025 after a partial break in the 2024 season
Two-time champion Kalle Rovanperä will return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Toyota for the full season in 2025. The Finn confirmed this in an interview with Motorsport.com Italy at the weekend in Monza, where he is competing in the Italian Porsche Carrera Cup,
“As for the plans for 2025, I will surely drive the whole season with Toyota in the WRC. I will come back and do the whole season,” explains Rovanperä. The Finn, who turned 24 on October 1, felt drained after winning the 2022 and 2023 world championship titles and will not compete in the full world championship season in 2024.
So far, Rovanperä has competed in seven of 11 WRC events and proved with four wins – most recently at the Rally Chile a week ago – that he is still the measure of all things in the World Rally Championship.
Batteries are recharged
In 2024, Rovanperä also devoted himself to other activities alongside his part-time program. Among other things, he took part in drift races and made a few starts in the Italian Porsche Carrera Cup. All this and a little more free time was enough to overcome exhaustion.
“I think my batteries are recharged,” says the Finn. “I’m ready to come back and do a full season, even if it’s going to be even longer and harder,” says Rovanperä, looking ahead to the 2025 WRC calendar, which includes 14 rounds, including three new rallies in Gran Canaria, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia.
Despite the expanded WRC calendar, the WRC is not expected to be Rovanperä’s only occupation in 2025. “I definitely want to continue circuit racing. We are working on it to see what the best calendar is to fit in circuit racing,” says Rovanperä.
Circuit racing not just for fun
Rovanperä does not see these events just as fun or a counterbalance to rallying. “I also started on the circuit to see if I enjoyed it, but also, if not mainly, to become a better driver,” he says.
“There are many drivers who are good at rallies but have problems on the circuit. I, on the other hand, want to be able to do both. My motivation is to be strong in both rallies and on the circuit,” explains Rovanperä.
And the Finn already has a specific sporting goal in mind, with which he would like to follow in the footsteps of drivers like Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier. “The GT races I would like to take part in definitely include Le Mans. That is definitely on my list of things I would like to do,” he says.
Long-term goal 24 Hours of Le Mans
The conditions for this would also be in place with his current employer, because Toyota not only competes in the World Rally Championship with a factory team, but also in the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and thus at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rovanperä has not yet planned a test of Toyota’s Le Mans hypercar, but says: “It could happen at some point. It depends on the plans and the schedule.”