Victory for Rovanperä at Arctic Lapland Rally

Kalle Rovanperä wins the 55th Arctic Lapland Rally, the opening round of the Finnish rally championship. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Rovanperä came to the Arctic circle as a part of preparations for his debut in the World Rally Championship’s premier class next week at Rallye Monte-Carlo.

The young Finn was driving the #1 Toyota Yaris WRC, winning the rally with a dominant advantage over Teemu Asunmaa in a Škoda Fabia R5 evo. Eerik Pietiarinen completed the podium in another Škoda.

There were eight Škoda Fabia drivers in the top 10. Finnish Formula 1 star Valtteri Bottas participated in the event in a Citroen DS3 WRC prepared by PH Sport, finishing in the ninth place overall together with his navigator Timo Rautiainen.

Valtteri Bottas at Arctic Lapland Rally in a Citroen DS3 WRC

The Norwegian rally championship also kicked-off this weekend. The first round was Sigdalsrally. The victory went to Mads Ostberg in Adapta Motorsport’s Citroen C5 R5. Ostberg will drive another Citroen C3 R5 for PH Sport next week at Rallye Monte-Carlo.

This weekend in Norway, Ostberg shared a podium with Anders Grondal (Ford Fiesta R5) and Thomas Thunstrom (Škoda Fabia R5).

Photo: Jari Nurminen,