Rovanperä was born in Jyväskylä, Central Finland.[2] He is the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, who was a factory driver for several teams and won a WRC round in Sweden in 2001.[3] He garnered international attention at the age of eight, when footage of him driving a rally car was uploaded to the Internet, and participated his first rally at just ten years old.[4] Prior to his participation in the professional championships, he was coached by many compatriots, including Esapekka Lappi, who commented that a young Rovanperä already knew as much as him.[5]
Rally Career
2015–2017: Success in Latvia, two other national series, ERC and WRC debut
In 2015, at the age of 14, Rovanperä competed in Latvia where having a driver's license is not a requirement to take part in rallying.[6][7] He won the Latvian rally championship with his Citroën C2 R2 Max car in the R2 class.[8][9]
For the first three rallies of the 2016 Latvian rally series, Rovanperä drove a 220 kW (300 hp) four-wheel-driveŠkoda Fabia S2000, which was a completely new WRC-2 class rally car with a two-litre naturally aspirated engine.[10] He won the first rally, setting the fastest time at every stage.[11] He finished as the runner-up the second rally despite a power steering issue.[12] Rovanperä switched to a new Škoda Fabia R5 following another second-place finish in the Kurzeme rally.[13] He scored four more podiums, including two victories for the rest of the season.[14] Rovanperä eventually won the championship and became the youngest driver ever to win a national open class rally championship in any country at the age of 16.[15]
In January 2017, the Finnish motorsport association AKK-Motorsport granted a 16-year-old Rovanperä special permission to take part in Finnish rally races and the Ralli SM national championship series.[16] In addition to entering the rallies in the Finnish Rally Championship, he also participated in two other national championships: Latvia and Italy.[17] Rovanperä also made his European Rally Championship debut in 2017 by entering the Rally Liepāja, where he finished second overall.[18] He also successfully defended his title in Latvia by finishing every rally on the podium.[19]
In November 2019, Toyota announced that Rovanperä would drive for the Japanese manufacturer in 2020, alongside world champion Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.[33]
2020–2021: Top tier debut and youngest WRC event winner
Rovanperä chose 69 as his car number.[34] He scored his first podium at his second outing in the top class at the 2020 Rally Sweden by finishing third.[35] At 19 years, 4 months and 16 days, Rovanperä became the youngest WRC podium finisher.[36] Rovanperä eventually finished fifth at the end of season.[37]
Rovanperä's 2021 campaign started with a fourth at the 2021 Monte Carlo Rally and a second at the 2021 Arctic Rally Finland, which was enough to lead the WRC championship for the first time in his career.[38] Following a series of troublesome events, Rovanperä took his first WRC career victory at the 2021 Rally Estonia.[39] The victory saw him become the youngest driver to win a World Rally Championship event at 21 years and 289 days, breaking the previous record of 22 years and 313 days held by his team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.[40] Later in 2021, he also won the 2021 Acropolis Rally.[41] Rovanperä eventually finished fourth at the conclusion of the championship.[42]
2022–2023: Youngest World Rally Champion
Rovanperä started 2022 with a fourth place at the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally, before he went on to win a hat-trick events.[43] Following a fifth place at the 2022 Rally Italia Sardegna, he secured back-to-back victories to build a commanding lead in the championship.[44][39] Despite a number of eventful rallies, he returned to form to claim his sixth rally of the season at the 2022 Rally New Zealand.[45] The performance was enough to secure the first world title of his career.[46] At the age of 22 years and 1 day, Rovanperä became the youngest World Rally Champion, breaking the previous record set by Colin McRae at the age of 27 years and 89 days in 1995.[47] He also became the first Finnish World Rally Champion since Marcus Grönholm in 2002.[48]
Rovanperä did not win a rally until the fifth round of the championship, the 2023 Rally de Portugal, which helped him to lead the championship.[49] He won two more events later in the year, consolidating his championship lead.[50][51] At the 2023 Central European Rally, major title rival Elfyn Evans was out of contention, whist Rovanperä finished second, which was enough to seal a back-to-back world title.[52]
Rovanperä signed a multi-year contract with Toyota following the end of 2023 season.[53] However, it was announced that Rovanperä would only contest a partial season in 2024 before returning full time in 2025.[54]
Other activities
In 2022, Rovanperä competed at the Mondello Park round of the Drift Masters European Championship with a Toyota Supra, where he reached the round of 16.[55] In 2023, he entered two rounds of the Formula Drift Japan with a Toyota GR Corolla, claiming a win at Ebisu and a second place at Okayama.[56][57] He also entered three rounds of the Drift Masters European Championship with a Toyota Supra.
The Finn announced to enter four rounds of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux.[58] He finished his first race weekend in Zandvoort in 4th and 5th place, and afterwards took his first circuit victory in Imola, finishing 2nd and 1st.[59]
Rovanperä said on Instagram on Christmas Eve that he will be seen in the Dubai 24 Hour race from 10 to 12. January 2025.
Personal life
In June 2017, the Finnish transport safety agency Trafi granted Rovanperä special permission to apply for a driver's license when he turned 17.[60] On 2 October 2017, a day after his 17th birthday, Rovanperä successfully completed the mandatory driving test after having completed the theory part beforehand.[61]
In 2020, Rovanperä moved to Estonia.[62] He has lived in Monaco since 2022.[63]
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