Rallying, circuit racing, drifting and starring in a hip-hop video are all activities in Kalle Rovanpera’s 2024 ‘gap year’ calendar. It’s fair to say life is pretty good at the moment for the reigning two-time World Rally champion, who has rewritten the record books.
The common denominator that links all of these pursuits together, even his brief dalliance into the world of Finnish hip-hop, is an unbridled passion for cars. If a search was conducted to find the biggest petrolhead currently competing in global motorsport, then Rovanpera has to enter the conversation.
“I’m sure out all of the rally drivers, I am most into cars that are not rally cars, you know like road cars and racing cars,” the Toyota WRC driver says in a special edition of Autosport’s Gravel Notes podcast.
“I just enjoy cars a lot. I would say my main hobby is to build cars, and of course I don’t have the time and the skills to make the cars myself, but I really enjoy thinking about the spec when I get a new car myself, like what kind of wheels I want and all the small details.
“When I see the car when it is ready, it is one of the biggest joys I can get. I love road cars so much. I love how they look, and I love the way you can express yourself with cars.”
Rovanpera has taken this freedom of expression to a new level this year by starring as a welder-turned-driver in a hip-hop video for the ‘Rallikansa’ track – which translates to ‘Rally Crowd’ – by award winning Finnish artists JVG. It’s a song that has been streamed more than four million times on Spotify.
Rovanpera’s partial WRC campaign this year is allowing him to enjoy his wider passion for cars
Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
But it’s this passion for cars that goes some way to explain why Rovanpera has put together a petrolhead’s paradise of a year, after deciding to conduct a part campaign in the WRC “to recharge his batteries”. A spot of rallying combined with a venture into circuit racing while also indulging his love of drifting, is very appealing to the 23-year-old.
It’s perhaps not surprising that one the brightest talents to hit the WRC stages in recent years has a love affair with all things four wheels. Since he was aged seven, the son of WRC rally winner Harri Rovanpera has been driving a vehicle of some sort. And it’s this incredibly early start to driving that has helped him collect WRC records for fun.
After smashing the late…
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