The Albany Gazette - Rovanpera targets title in debut Central European Rally

The 23-year-old Finn will defend his WRC crown if he matches or betters his Toyota teammate and friend Elfyn Evans' score in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Wins in Portugal, Estonia and Greece have carried Rovanpera 31 points clear with 30 points on offer this weekend.

He tops the standings on 217 points, with Evans, the only driver standing in his way, on 186 ahead of this penultimate round of the season.

"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," Rovanpera said.

"I'm quite confident that it can be a good event for us," he added.

"This type of asphalt rally normally suits me best and I have had some good results on these kinds of roads."

Evans needs to win to ensure the title battle goes down to the wire in Japan next month.

"We'll be trying everything we can to have two strong rallies to end the season and we'll try to put the pressure on Kalle," said the Welshman, winner in Croatia and Finland.

The Central European Rally is making its debut on the WRC calendar.

It starts in Czech capital, Prague, on Thursday and concludes on Sunday in Passau, Germany.

With changeable weather predicted, Rovanpera believes running first on the road as the leader in the standings could play to his advantage.

"If the conditions do get tricky then the starting position could work for us this time."

Evans is unsure what lies in store.

"We don't really know too much about it," said the driver who is staring at a fourth runners-up spot in the championship after 2020-21 and last season to Rovanpera.

"The organisers have supplied some videos of the stages, but it's difficult to gauge what the rally looks like. It's a new rally for everybody. Nobody really knows what to expect from the roads or how different they'll be from day to day."

He added: "A lot of this depends on the weather we get. Obviously rain is more likely at this time of the year than in the summer and if there's a lot of rain then the road's going to get more and more muddy and dirty and the grip levels become very hard to judge."

Ott Tanak, the 2019 champion and winner last time out in Chile, may be out of title contention but with a return to Hyundai next year he will want to leave M-Sport Ford in style with strong performances over the final two rallies.

(Y.Harris--TAG)