Two-time WRC Champion Kalle Rovanperä Switches from Rallying to Circuit Racing.
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| Photo: Red Bull Content Pool |
Finnish driver Kalle Rovanperä is set to make a major shift in his career, moving from rally stages to race tracks. He plans to compete over the next two seasons in the highly competitive Japanese Super Formula championship and has already completed his first test in a Formula 2 car.
However, this isn’t Rovanperä’s first taste of single-seaters — in the past, he even had the chance to drive a Formula 1 car. Thanks to his strong ties with Red Bull, Kalle tested an older Red Bull F1 car last year at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
It’s still very early days, but if he performs well, a future move to the pinnacle of motorsport - Formula 1, might not be out of reach. Such a step could come with support from Toyota, with whom he has a close partnership and who also share links with the American F1 team Haas.
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| Kalle during his F2 test, Photo: IG-Kalle Rovanperä |
Several drivers in the past have attempted a similar switch between two completely different disciplines. Kimi Räikkönen, for example, temporarily left Formula 1 to compete in rallying — though Rovanperä is taking the opposite route. Another notable case is Valentino Rossi, who tested a Formula 1 car for Scuderia Ferrari and now competes actively in endurance racing following his retirement from MotoGP.