Devastating Rovanperä loss shows WRC has to stop its own drift

Likewise, Rovanperä will probably take a clutch of wins when he does appear next year, especially because he won’t be starting Fridays first on the road. But whichever of his rivals claims the crown – and my money will be on Evans given that he’ll now have the full weight of Toyota’s support – they will always wonder: how might it have been with Kalle?

At the same time, I can’t help but admire Rovanperä for making such a call. At just 23!

His reasoning is simple – and is undoubtedly related to his love of drifting, a sport I enjoyed watching at the Nürburgring this year the night before the 24 Hours (but still struggle to take entirely seriously. Isn’t it simply about pulling cool skids?)

Anyway, here’s what Rovanperä said in full:

“I have signed a multi-year contract with Toyota Gazoo World Rally Team again and I’m really excited to continue with the team, which I like a lot. But next year we are going to see some changes for me and Jonne [Halttunen, his co-driver] because we are going to drive half of the WRC season calendar.

“There are many reasons behind this, but the biggest reason is that I’ve been driving rallies for 15 years which is quite a long time. The last seasons have of course been amazing, but also really demanding mentally and physically, and it’s consuming a lot of time and energy to fight for the championships and go around the world full-time on rallying.

“So I felt now would be a good moment to take this kind of year, for recharging the batteries, refreshing the mind and then come back again full-time to fight for the championships with full attack. As you know, I like other forms of motor sport a lot and next year I will have more free time so maybe I will see you guys on some drifting events and other cool events, and the rallies which we will select later on.”

A few thoughts on that. Fifteen years – and he’s only 23. That’s a reminder how young the son of Peugeot works ace Harri Rovanperä was when he started rallying. It also suggests, again refreshingly, that he rallies not for titles but for the love of the pursuit. Shades of Walter Röhrl, perhaps, who famously won two WRC crowns but could have at least doubled his score – if only he’d been motivated by such trinkets.

It’s also true that Rovanperä has plenty of time, perhaps to match both Ogier and Loeb and even surpass them. If he wants to. But much like Max Verstappen in Formula 1, you sense that if those crazy career numbers come his way it would be a bonus rather than the target.

And what self-belief! To turn down the hot chance of a third title, driving the best car for the best team, at such a young age… He clearly knows his own mind.

Like I say, he’s refreshing. And he has genuine star power, which is why his full attention on the WRC is such a loss.

So what of next year’s WRC? The hybrid Rally1 cars still have their problems. Windscreens misting up in Japan to the point that drivers could barely see is, as Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul put it, “embarrassing”. There are calls for a major rethink on the WRC’s future direction, just two years into this new hybrid era. That’s a bit of an indictment.

Yet despite all that, the cars are still spectacular to watch, the margins are as fine as ever and despite the commitment of just two-and-a-half manufacturers – Ford offers only limited support to M-Sport’s Pumas – the competition remains rife.

So next year will remain riveting. And whoever prevails should be considered a ‘full-fat’ champion. Of course they will have earned – and will deserve – the crown.

But don’t tell me it won’t be devalued (at least a smidge) by Rovanperä backing down. The WRC needs all the help it can get to grab the attention of the wider world. There’s no dressing it up. As my late friend Simon Arron might have put it, this is rubbish news.