After the 23-year-old’s somewhat surprising announcement he’d only be running a partial WRC campaign with Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2024 in order the re-charge his batteries, he acknowledged he wanted to also try his hand at other forms of motorsport, with a GT3 car at the top of his wish-list.
“When you aim for the title there is so much pressure to score points that you almost forget the pleasure of driving. The stress that sets in eventually takes away all the fun behind the wheel,” he explained after his announcement late last year.
The reigning champion and co-driver Jonne Halttunen kick off their WRC campaign in Rally Sweden tomorrow (Thursday)
Rovanperä has confirmed that he will complete a partial programme in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series. The Finn will race a 911 GT3 Cup car in four of the six rounds run by Red Ant Racing’ s Marc Goosens, a veteran 13 times Le Mans racer.
“I have a really exciting season of rallying coming up and with a partial season I have a bit more time and it has been a long time in my mind to go and drive a bit of circuit racing,” said Rovanperä.
“I’m really excited to start this new challenge on the circuit. It will be I think a big challenge for me but I’m really excited and I think the Benelux series is also quite good. There are young drivers with a lot of experience and also those with a lot of experience, so it will be a big challenge for me against them. But it will be a good learning experience for me.”
“Of course it gives me an extra boost as it is something new, so it is always more interesting when you have new challenges and I’m really looking forward to what kind of feeling I will have there.
“It is going to be so different from rallying but I will take it quite easy and I don’t have big pressure on myself. I just want to go there and see how I do. We have a proper plan to do some good testing and get myself fast in the car. I’m still a racer so I want to do well.”
“I’m really excited to start this new challenge on the circuit. It will be I think a big challenge for me but I’m really excited and I think the Benelux series is also quite good. There are young drivers with a lot of experience and also those with a lot of experience, so it will be a big challenge for me against them. But it will be a good learning experience for me.”
“Of course it gives me an extra boost as it is something new, so it is always more interesting when you have new challenges and I’m really looking forward to what kind of feeling I will have there.
“It is going to be so different from rallying but I will take it quite easy and I don’t have big pressure on myself. I just want to go there and see how I do. We have a proper plan to do some good testing and get myself fast in the car. I’m still a racer so I want to do well.”
