Kalle Rovanperä has become the youngest driver to claim the FIA World Rally Championship after dominating the Rally New Zealand in Auckland.
Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) and Jonne Halttunen (FIN) of team Toyota Gazoo Racing celebrate on the podium after winning their maiden FIA World Rally Championship title in Auckland. Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
The 22-year-old wrapped up the world title with two events in hand, set-up with a superb performance in the wildly wet conditions on Saturday and he controlled things with a maturity beyond his years today.
He was fastest in two of the four stages, second fastest in the other two which culminated with a stunning victory in the final stage which doubled as the Wolf Power stage, earning additional bonus points at the exciting Jacks Ridge Huanui stage.
Rovanperä becomes the first Finn to win the world championship in two decades, and his win in Auckland, his fourth of the year, was one better place than his father Harri achieved in the 2002 Rally New Zealand.
"It's quite a big relief after such a big season. My biggest thanks go to the team. They made this rocket this year reliable and fast car, and even after some difficult rallies they always believed in us and keep giving us support," said Rovanperä.
The victory also propelled his Toyota Gazoo Racing team into a significant advantage in the battle of the manufacturers.
His team mate, eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier held solid in second place to shield Rovanperä from the chasing Ott Tänak (Hyundai) who has been chasing down the differential for the last three WRC events.
The young Finn finished Rally New Zealand with a 34.6s margin to teammate Ogier, with 48.5s to Tanak.
There was plenty to celebrate for Kiwi rally fans with Hayden Paddon, the former PWRC world champion and a WRC winner in Argentina, dominating the WRC2 category and in doing so finished a remarkable sixth place overall.
Along the way he cemented his sixth New Zealand Rally Championship, and again showed his international class, with his focus now on development of the first all-electric rally car and his pathway back to the top echelon of the sport.
"It has been a very long two and a half days, since stage three we've been trying to manage it and not do anything silly, as much as we would have loved to be pushing it on these roads," Paddon said.