'Rapid' Rovanperä rallies to victory in the Rally Islas Canarias

Written by Benjamin Crundwell

Credit: WRC

To describe Kalle Rovanperä's performance in the Rally Islas Canarias as dominant would be an understatement. The Finish driver won 15 of the 18 available stages, earning himself the nickname 'little crazy Fin' from his teammate, Sébastien Ogier.

Day 1

Drivers took on three separate stages in the morning of day 1, and the same stages were recycled for afternoons running. The highlight of the day's activities was on SS3, the 18 km stretch of road between La Aldea and Mogán. The extreme elevation, cliff edges and high-speed sections prompted Takamoto Katsuta to describe the stage as: “the best stage I’ve ever driven.”

Credit: WRC

Despite struggling with his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car in the opening three rounds of the 2025 season, Rovanperä had no such trouble on the first day of the Rally Islas Canarias. The ex-champion dominated, winning all six stages and finishing the day with a 26.8s lead.

Rovanperä wasn’t the only Toyota driver who had a good day. Ogier, who is not completing a full season, was second, with championship leader Eflyn Evans a further 9.6s back. Ogier said: ‘I’m not as sharp as I would be if I did every race but I try my best.’

Sami Pajari had a strong day, keeping just within a minute of the leader, and finishing the day fourth. 10.7s behind Pajari, Katsuta rounded out a Toyota 1-2-3-4-5 as Hyundai and M-Sport struggled.

Hyundai’s problems were prominent in Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak’s cars, both drivers described the car as ‘difficult.’ The other Hyundai driver, Adrien Fourmaux, had no problems in the morning, but after the midday service, Fourmaux’s pace fell off, and by SS6 he was frustratingly behind both his teammates.

Like Rovanperä, Yohan Rossel dominated, winning all six stages in WRC2. Rossel had a healthy lead, 18.7s ahead of Alejandro Cachón. 

Top 10 after day 1

1. Kalle Rovanperä -

2. Sébastien Ogier + 26.8

3. Elfyn Evans + 09.6

4. Sami Pajari + 18.9

5. Takamoto Katsuta + 10.7

6. Thierry Neuville + 07.3

7. Ott Tänak + 00.8

8. Adrien Fourmaux + 00.7

9. Grégoire Munster + 56.3

10. Yohan Rossel (WRC2) + 39.6

Day 2 

The second and penultimate day of the rally started off with a donut on SS7, ahead of 124 km of tarmac roads for the drivers to attack. 

Credit: WRC

Hyundai’s troubles continued, Neuville said his first 2 km were strong, but after that he lost the feeling in his car again. Although the drivers piloting the Hyundai’s could not compete with the Toyota’s, there was a big inter-team rivalry. 

Neuville and Tänak were separated by less than a second at the start of the day, but Neuville was 22 seconds faster than Tänak by the end of it. Having reverted to his setup from Friday morning, Fourmaux had no such issues, finishing ahead of both his champion-teammates. 

The Ford M-Sport drivers finished in 10th and 13th, both of whom were behind the leading two WRC2 drivers: Rossel and Cachón. Gregoire Munster finished behind a further two WRC2 cars after he went off the road in SS11. The Ford M-Sport driver was lucky to not hit a tree, and got back on the track with the help of the fans.

Toyota Gazoo Racing were on track to finish the day 1-2-3-4-5 again, but Pajari hit the barrier on SS12. Pajari was unfortunate, as he had been having a strong rally, running fourth overall prior to the crash. His rally would end in the barrier, as Toyota were unable to repair his car before Sunday.

The other four Toyotas continued to hold the top four. Rovenperä won every stage up to SS12, but his chance of a clean sweep was lost on the 1.8 km Special Stage, SSS13, when he finished fourth, six tenths behind the leader. Rovenperä would enter Super Sunday with a 45 second lead. 

Although Ogier had finished second in three quarters of the previous stages, it was Evans who took the spoils in SSS13, but only a tenth ahead of the eight time world champion. 

Top 10 after day 2

1. Kalle Rovanperä -

2. Sébastien Ogier + 45.2

3. Elfyn Evans + 22.9

4. Takamoto katsuta + 35.8

5. Adrien Fourmaux + 25.7

6. Thierry Neuville + 05.6

7. Ott Tänak + 22.1

8. Yohan Rossel + 3:08.6

9. Alejandro Cachón + 18.8

10. Josh McErlean + 07.6

Day 3

The final day of rallying provided the additional motivation of being Super Sunday, where bonus points were available to drivers.

Credit: Toyota Gazoo Racing

While Hyundai found improvements, their woes continued. Neuville said: 'the balance is better but the pace isn't there.' He had a strong morning, finishing third in SS15, but on the 1.5 km Go-Kart track SS16, he finished in 14th, and proceeded to drop 30 seconds behind Tänak when he got a puncture in SS17, the penultimate stage.

Tänak was fortunate to benefit from Neuville's puncture, as he received a 10 second penalty for going out late in the morning and failed to beat his two teammates in the first half of the day. The puncture allowed him to finish ahead of Neuville, in sixth.

Although he was slower than the Toyotas, Fourmaux struggled less than his two teammates. He shared a stage win in SS17 with Ogier and Rossel, all three of the French drivers set identical times on the Go-Kart track. Ogier was surprised to hear the WRC2 driver matched his and Fourmaux's time, saying: 'he deserves to have it because he has a smaller car.'

At the end of the rally, Fourmaux was 40 seconds ahead of Tänak, and over a minute ahead of Neuville. The French driver did an exceptional job to beat both of his previous-champion teammates.

Having been pushing all weekend to beat Rovanperä, Ogier was happy to win SS17 (this time not having to share it with two other drivers), but he brushed it off, suggesting Rovanperä was saving his tyres for the power stage. The eight time world champion's performance should not be overlooked considering he did not compete in the previous two rallys.

Ogier took second place 14 times, and won two stages. His performance in Islas Canarias leaves him fourth in the championship, having competed in half the events as his competitors. Evans cautious driving allowed him to extend his championship lead to 45 points.

Katsuta finished in fourth, meaning the Toyotas claimed all four of the top four spots. The result reflects the incredible work the Toyota engineers have done to build such a well balanced rally car.

Rovanperä took an astonishing win on the final stage to bring home maximum points over the weekend, jumping him to second in the championship. He managed to win 15 of the 18 stages, and won overall by an ominous 53.5 seconds. The Rally was Rovanperä's 16th WRC win.

Despite a disappointing weekend, Neuville is third in the championship, two points ahead of Tänak who is fifth. The drivers from second to fourth in the championship are separated by only nine points ahead of the next Rally, which takes place in Portugal from May 15th to 18th.

In WRC2, Rossel dominated, finishing just shy of 30 seconds ahead of Alejandro Cajón.

Top 10 after day 3

1. Kalle Rovanperä -

2. Sébastien Ogier + 53.5

3. Elfyn Evans + 23.6

4. Takamoto Katsuta + 45.8

5. Adrien Fourmaux + 28.1

6. Ott Tänak + 40.4

7. Thierry Neuville + 29.3

8. Yohan Rossel (WRC2) + 03:30.0

9. Alejandro Cajón + 29.5

10. Nikolay Gryazin + 18.2