Video: Kalle Rovanperä tearing up Rallylegend in a Celica ST185

07th October 2024

Simon Ostler

At this point there is no doubt that Kalle Rovanperä is one of the most naturally talented drivers on the planet. His meteoric rise to become a two-time World Rally Champion at the age of 24 was unprecedented. The next youngest champion, the great Colin McRae, won his title at the age of 27. Rovanperä has the skill and the time to become the undisputed greatest rally driver in history if he wants to, but he’s already made it clear with his decision to take on a new challenge in the Drift world in 2024, that he’s not content with being a single-discipline champion.

Sometimes you can tell when a certain driver is behind the wheel. Even if Fernando Alonso was wearing a generic helmet, you’d know if it was him wrestling a Formula 1 car around a circuit. It’s the same when Rovanperä is behind the wheel, the way he manipulates the car is different to anyone else most of the time because he’s simply on another level.

In this video courtesy of YouTube user Italiansupercarivdeo, we get to enjoy his driving talents in a slightly more relaxed setting as he’s busy enjoying the delights of Rallylegend in San Marino at the wheel of a Toyota Celica ST185 – supposedly owned by one Jari-Matti Latvala. His exuberance is jaw-dropping, as he immediately gets the car under his spell, initiating a sumptuous drift before nonchalantly chucking it into a faultless donut.

It takes an awful lot of confidence to fling a car of this historic value into a huge angle drift at such incredible speed, and yet the way he pulls it off with such apparent ease is just phenomenal. He’s a natural crowd pleaser, as his display at nightfall in front of adoring crowds who had stayed out to see him in action shows.

Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day. Watch the last video: On the limit in a Lotus Elan 26R