TARTU (Estonia): Kalle Rovanpera, a 20-year-old Finn, became the youngest winner in the World Rally Championship when he took the Estonia Rally on Sunday.
Rovanpera beat Hyundai’s Craig Breen by almost a minute and broke the record of another Finn, Jari-Matti Latvala, now his boss at Toyota, who was 22 when he won his first victory in Sweden in 2008.
The former Skoda driver, who lives in Estonia, was joined by his father Harri, a one-time rally winner, at the finish line.
“It has been a difficult season and it’s really nice to get it here in Estonia. It’s almost a home rally and a lot of fans were here supporting,” Rovanpera told the WRC’s website.
“It has been a long season so far with not so good results, but we proved that the pace is there and now we can bring it home which is good,” he added.
Last year Rovanpera was the youngest driver to reach the podium when he finished third in Sweden.
He conserved his overnight lead by finishing third, fourth or fifth on all the Sunday stages.
Belgian Thierry Neuville finished third for Hyundai, 1min 12sec behind, after winning three of the days stages and finishing second in the other three.
Seven-time champion Sebastien Ogier finished fourth to extend his overall lead in the drivers’ championship to 37 points over Toyota team-mate Welshman Elfyn Evans who was fifth.
Home hope and four-time race winner Ott Tanak, won three stages on Sunday, including the closing power stage, but finished 22nd more than an hour and 20 minutes slower than Rovanpera after temporarily abandoning on Friday following three punctures on his Hyundai.
Rovanpera beat Hyundai’s Craig Breen by almost a minute and broke the record of another Finn, Jari-Matti Latvala, now his boss at Toyota, who was 22 when he won his first victory in Sweden in 2008.
The former Skoda driver, who lives in Estonia, was joined by his father Harri, a one-time rally winner, at the finish line.
“It has been a difficult season and it’s really nice to get it here in Estonia. It’s almost a home rally and a lot of fans were here supporting,” Rovanpera told the WRC’s website.
“It has been a long season so far with not so good results, but we proved that the pace is there and now we can bring it home which is good,” he added.
Last year Rovanpera was the youngest driver to reach the podium when he finished third in Sweden.
He conserved his overnight lead by finishing third, fourth or fifth on all the Sunday stages.
Belgian Thierry Neuville finished third for Hyundai, 1min 12sec behind, after winning three of the days stages and finishing second in the other three.
Seven-time champion Sebastien Ogier finished fourth to extend his overall lead in the drivers’ championship to 37 points over Toyota team-mate Welshman Elfyn Evans who was fifth.
Home hope and four-time race winner Ott Tanak, won three stages on Sunday, including the closing power stage, but finished 22nd more than an hour and 20 minutes slower than Rovanpera after temporarily abandoning on Friday following three punctures on his Hyundai.
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