Kalle Rovanperä – the youngest driver to enter FIA World Rally Championship made his WRC debut yesterday in the Toyota Yaris WRC as he took part in the shakedown, setting the seventh fastest time on the stage at Gap in Monaco.
It is not the first time Rovanperä has driven the Yaris at an event, he won the Arctic Lapland Rally in Northern Finland earlier this month.
Rovanperä became the only WRC2 Pro class champion as the class only ran for one season last year before being restructured for 2020, he hasn’t been out on tarmac roads since the Szilveszter Rallye, where he won one month ago in a Škoda Fabia R5.
He still has some work to do with himself to adopt with the new car and the class, his car setup was feeling good and the small changes they made on the test were positive.
“It felt amazing to be in the car in shakedown. It was my first time back on asphalt after one month, and it was not so easy on the first run, but the second run was already better,” Rovanperä said
“The car was feeling really good and the setup also, and I think the small changes that we did in the test were now correct. There is still some work to do with myself for sure, but it feels good.”