How the WRC saw a different side to Rovanpera in his latest Acropolis triumph

In a gruelling event that almost didn’t happen, reigning WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera showed he has more than just speed in his locker to strengthen his grip on the 2023 title race. Here's how the Toyota star prevailed in a true endurance test, despite starting first on the road, as two experienced heads fell by the wayside...

Updated Sep 12, 2023, 10:46 AM

Acropolis Rally king Colin McRae turned mastering the brutal Greek gravel roads into an art form thanks to a perfect blend of speed and mechanical sympathy. It was these very attributes that Kalle Rovanpera showed in abundance to survive and conquer one of the toughest World Rally Championship events in recent memory last weekend.

His second Acropolis win from three attempts once again outlined the 22-year-old's remarkable talent as Rovanpera took another step not only towards McRae’s Acropolis undisputed benchmark of five wins, but a second world title.

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Author Tom Howard

Tom Howard is a News Editor working across both Autosport.com and Motorsport.com websites. Starting out as a sports reporter in local newspapers, Tom focussed on motorsport covering several national championships in the UK, including the BTCC.

After a period working as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Australia in 2013 landing a job at leading Australian motorsport news outlet speedcafe.com, covering international motorsport events including F1, WRC and Supercars. Progressing to Editor in 2017, Tom was named Motorsport Australia Journalist of the Year for his work. He is also a two-time winner of Supercars Journalist of The Year (2017,2019) and a Supercars Championship Media Award winner in 2019.

Tom moved back to his native UK in 2020, firstly working in BTCC, before joining Autosport and motorsport.com in 2021.