WRC
Record-breaker Rovanperä to close remarkable WRC stint at season’s end
Kalle Rovanperä will call time on his WRC career at the conclusion of the 2025 season, ending a spell that has so far delivered two world titles, 17 rally wins and a string of youngest-ever records.
Still only 25, the Finn made history from the moment he joined Toyota Gazoo Racing’s top-flight squad in 2020. On just his second start, he claimed a podium at Rally Sweden to become the FIA World Rally Championship’s youngest ever top-three finisher, before scoring a maiden win the following season at Rally Estonia - again setting a new age record.
The introduction of Rally1 hybrid regulations in 2022 proved a perfect match for the then-22-year-old and co-driver Jonne Halttunen. Victories on five of the opening seven rounds - plus a season-clinching triumph in New Zealand - sealed him the crown of youngest world champion in WRC history. He defended the title in 2023 with a remarkably consistent campaign that saw the duo finish all but one rally inside the top four.
Even while contesting only seven rounds in 2024, Rovanperä triumphed four times to help Toyota secure a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ crown. This season he remains firmly in the fight for a third drivers’ title after a standout success in the Canary Islands and an emotional first home win in Finland, where he set the fastest average speed ever recorded on a WRC rally.
Rovanperä became the WRC's youngest champion at Rally New Zealand in 2023
© Red Bull
Rovanperä will stay within the Toyota family next year to contest Japan’s premier single-seater category - the Japanese Super Formula Championship - but for now his focus remains firmly on rallying’s ultimate prize.
“This decision has not been an easy one, but itʼs one that I have been thinking about for a while,” Rovanperä said. “Having already achieved so much in rallying at this age, I started to think about what other possibilities I might have and what other challenges I would like to take on. It has been a tough decision, but it feels like the right one to pursue my next dreams and challenges.
“Since I started driving as a small kid, it was my dream to be a WRC driver, to win a rally and to become world champion. To have achieved all that at such a young age has been an incredible feeling. We still have three rallies to go this year and we will give it everything and keep pushing until the end,” he added.
Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala paid tribute to his driver’s impact, saying: “Kalle has already enjoyed a remarkable career in the WRC with us - youngest rally winner, youngest world champion, twice a title-winner - and at 25 he understandably wants to take on a new challenge. “With three rallies left, I know he will want to end his WRC career as world champion once more.”
