Kalle Rovanperä wants to compete in GT racing in 2024 alongside his part-time rally program – co-driver Jonne Halttunen also reveals plans for the coming year
In addition to his part-time program with Toyota in the World Rally Championship (WRC), Kalle Rovanperä also wants to compete in a GT car in 2024. The two-time world champion revealed this on Friday at the FIA awards ceremony in Baku when asked by Autosport.
“At the moment we are planning at least a few test drives with GT cars and if everything goes well, why not a race,” said Rovanperä. The 23-year-old drove a McLaren Senna on a race track with former Formula 1 stars Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard in a promotional video earlier this year.
Rovanperä would not be the first driver to combine rally and sports car racing. In addition to his WRC career, Sebastien Loeb also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he finished second overall in 2006.
Sebastien Ogier combined a part-time program in the WRC with a season in the LMP2 class of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2022, having previously made guest appearances in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters.
After winning his second title, Rovanperä announced that he would only compete in individual rallies in 2024 in order to recharge his batteries. He then plans to return to the World Rally Championship in 2025. In addition to the planned foray into GT racing, the Finn had already announced his participation in drift events.
Co-driver Jonne Halttunen also commented on his plans for 2024 in Baku. “I’m actually quite happy about the partial season, because it’s quite exhausting to drive the whole season in the WRC,” said Halttunen. “For us it’s not just the racing, for me every event is two weeks long, so I will focus on myself and maybe commentate a bit. “
