Rovanperä welcomes team-mate Evans' WRC rivalry

The Finn starts the tri-nation event with a 31-point championship advantage and knows that outscoring colleague Evans will be enough for him and co-driver Jonne Halttunen to secure a second consecutive crown at this penultimate round of the season.

Talking after his pre-event test, Rovanperä admitted he’s feeling comfortable aboard the GR Yaris Rally1.

The defending world champion said: “It’s nice to be back on asphalt with a rally car; in our test I was feeling comfortable in the car straight away and hopefully it will be the same in the rally. I’m quite confident that it can be a good event for us: this type of asphalt rally normally suits me best and I have had some good results on these kinds of roads."

On the subject of the all-Toyota title scrap, he added: “When the fight is between team-mates, it’s always quite friendly and fair with the same cars, so it should be a good one.”

While it’s difficult to predict the weather across an event with such a wide footprint, running through Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, changeable conditions are likely at this time of the season.

Running first on the road, Rovanperä knows that could work to his advantage.

“If the conditions do get tricky,” he said, “then the starting position could work for us this time.”