WRC
Rovanperä’s record title or Paddon’s podium return?
A 22-year-old world champion and a long-awaited return to the WRC podium share the next Rally1 Rewind vote. Choose between Kalle Rovanperä in New Zealand and Hayden Paddon in Croatia.
Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen made history in New Zealand in 2022. Paddon and John Kennard's third place in Croatia four years later brought a familiar partnership back to the top-level rostrum after a long absence. Both finishes carried significance well beyond the result itself.
Rovanperä becomes the youngest world champion
One day after his 22nd birthday, Rovanperä stood at the finish of Rally New Zealand as the youngest drivers' world champion the WRC had seen.
The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver and co-driver Halttunen clinched their first titles with victory, beating Sébastien Ogier by 34.6sec. It was Rovanperä's sixth win of the season and left him with an unassailable advantage with two rounds still to run.
© WRC
Colin McRae had held the age record since winning the 1995 championship at 27. Rovanperä lowered it by more than five years, in only his third season at the sport's highest level.
The finish rewarded a campaign which had already included three successive victories in Sweden, Croatia and Portugal, and delivered Finland's first drivers' world champion since Marcus Grönholm in 2002.
Paddon returns to the WRC podium
Paddon and Kennard had aimed to bring their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 through Croatia's unpredictable asphalt stages cleanly. That approach carried them further than they had expected.
A puncture on Saturday was another reminder of the risks posed by loose gravel and changing grip. Paddon nursed the car through, and the crew entered the final day fourth overall.
When team-mates Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe went off on the Power Stage and could not finish, Paddon and Kennard were promoted to third. It was Paddon's first outright WRC podium since Australia in 2018, and Kennard's first since Poland in 2016.
© WRC
“It's definitely bittersweet for us,” Paddon said, acknowledging the disappointment for his team-mates. Yet for the returning crew, being back on a WRC podium after so many years was an achievement to savour, earned by staying in contention on a rally which punished so many others.
Cast your vote below before 08:00 CET on 11 November. Tomorrow, Rovanperä's last-minute Poland victory faces Toyota's final-stage manufacturers' title success in Japan.
