Harri Rovanperä
Encyclopedia
Harri "Rovis" Rovanperä (Jyväskylä
, 1966) is a Finnish
rally
driver who competed in the World Rally Championship
from 1993 to 2006. He drove for SEAT
(1997–00), Peugeot
(2001–04), Mitsubishi
(2005) and Red Bull
Škoda
Team (2006). Rovanperä was known as a gravel
specialist.
Finnish Rally Championship
title in 1995 at the wheel of an Opel Astra
. After a few outings on his national World Rally Championship event Rally Finland
, he was hired by SEAT
to drive the SEAT Ibiza Kit Car
, with which he won SEAT's third consecutive 2L World Rally Championship title in 1998. Next year in 1999, he took part in the top class World Rally Championship with the SEAT Córdoba WRC E2
finishing in the third place in the last event of the season at the 55th Network Q Rally of Great Britain. In 2001
, he was hired by Peugeot
. Driving a Peugeot 206 WRC
, he took his first WRC win at the Swedish Rally
. The same year he finished fifth in the overall championship only eight points behind the winner, Richard Burns
, despite missing two rallies. He also competed at the Race of Champions
, and by winning the individual event and taking home the Henri Toivonen
Memorial Trophy, he earned the title Champion of Champions.
, and Rovanpera competed in a privateer Bozian-Racing run Peugeot 206 WRC. He retired on the 7th stage with broken steering after an off; Tommi Mäkinen
won the race in front of a penalized Sébastien Loeb
, while Carlos Sainz
finished third.
The second rally was in Sweden, where Harri returned in the official factory-entered Peugeot 206 WRC, and he finished the rally in second place, 1'24" behind team mate Marcus Grönholm
, despite winning two stages and leading the rally from Stages 3 to 14.
The next two rallies were Tour de Corse and Rally de Cataluñya, both on tarmac, where Harri competed for the Bozian-run team; on both rallies he failed to score, finishing only 11th (Corsica) and a solid 7th place (Cataluñya), on a surface he traditionally struggled.
The next rally took place on the island of Cyprus, where heavy rain made conditions treacherous. In this event, as in all the successive gravel events, Harri drove the official Peugeot works car; he finished 4th winning 1 stage. The rally was won again by his team mate Grönholm.
The WRC circus moved then to Argentina, where Peugeot had a dismal rally, Harri retired after engine problems on S.S.10, Gronhölm and Burns took first and second, but were both disqualified a few days later due to an illegal flywheel and illegal servicing respectively; so Sainz won the rally from Petter Solberg
.
In Greece, on a very hot and rough surface, Harri managed a 4th place, winning 1 S.S., the rally winner was Colin McRae
.
The "World's toughest Rally", the Safari Rally, gifted Harri with a second place, 2'50" behind the winner Colin McRae, in a rally that forced many of the drivers to retire.
In Finland Harri had maybe his strongest rally of the season, in fact, he even took the lead in the 12th stage, but on the next stage he crashed and a front suspension part was badly damaged, forcing him to retire; however, the rally was won by teammate Gronholm for the third year running.
In Germany (newcomer race in the WRC) Harri drove an official car, as regular tarmac expert Gilles Panizzi
was withdrawn from the event due to a shoulder injury sustained while carrying out DIY at his home. However, Rovanpera was forced to retire after a very difficult rally, which saw the first victory of Sébastien Loeb
in a Citroën Xsara.
In Sanremo, Harri returned to the Bozian team, but on asphalt the Finnish driver struggled and finished ninth, whilst Gilles Panizzi took a stunning win after the injury just three weeks before.
The championship returned to the gravel for the final rush, in New Zealand Harri drove a faultless race despite a hydraulic problem, finishing second, 3'50" as teammate Marcus Grönholm clinched his second world drivers championship.
The championship continued in the southern hemisphere with Rally Australia, and Rovanpera finished in second place again behind his team mate Grönholm, but this time only 57" behind, and winning 8 stages of the rally.
The season came to an end in the forests of Wales, where Harri finished 7th and out of the points after a race full of mistakes.
So the season ended with Harri finishing 7th overall with 30 points, 47 behind teammate Gronholm, but only 7 behind runner-up Petter Solberg.
's factory team and competed a full WRC programme, finishing seventh in the drivers' world championship with only final podium in Australia, where was second behind Duval. After Mitsubishi suddenly left the series before the 2006 season, Rovanperä signed on to drive Škoda Fabia WRC for Red Bull Škoda Team in six events without any significant result.
In 2007, Rovanperä was a regular competitor of the SRC Finnish Rallycross
Championship with a rear-wheel driven Ford Focus as well as a Volvo S40
, but finished only 11th overall. He had many technical problems with both cars.
In 2010 Harri and his co-driver
Jouni Närhi got the first overall in La Carrera Panamericana
in a Studebaker
1953.
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
, 1966) is a Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
driver who competed in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
from 1993 to 2006. He drove for SEAT
SEAT
SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....
(1997–00), Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
(2001–04), Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Motors
is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...
(2005) and Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
Škoda
Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto , more commonly known as Škoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group...
Team (2006). Rovanperä was known as a gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
specialist.
Career
Rovanperä won the small Group AGroup A
In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...
Finnish Rally Championship
Finnish Rally Championship
The Finnish Rally Championship is the national rally championship in Finland. The series currently has three classes; Group A , Group N and a group "n" for Group N cars with a 2000 cc engine limit...
title in 1995 at the wheel of an Opel Astra
Opel Astra
The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...
. After a few outings on his national World Rally Championship event Rally Finland
Rally Finland
The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....
, he was hired by SEAT
SEAT
SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....
to drive the SEAT Ibiza Kit Car
SEAT Ibiza
The SEAT Ibiza is a car in the European supermini class, constructed by the Spanish car maker SEAT S.A., is SEAT's best-selling car and perhaps the most popular model in the Spanish firm's range....
, with which he won SEAT's third consecutive 2L World Rally Championship title in 1998. Next year in 1999, he took part in the top class World Rally Championship with the SEAT Córdoba WRC E2
SEAT Córdoba
The first generation SEAT Córdoba was presented at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show and launched in the summer of the same year, penned by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and based on the chassis of the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 which would spawn the Volkswagen Polo Mk3 the following year.Its 1.4, 1.6, 1.8...
finishing in the third place in the last event of the season at the 55th Network Q Rally of Great Britain. In 2001
World Rally Championship 2001 results
The 2001 World Rally Championship season was the 29th season of the FIA World Rally Championship . In a tightly contested year, Subaru's Richard Burns took his first and only drivers' world title, beating Ford's Colin McRae, Mitsubishi's Tommi Mäkinen and the defending champion Marcus Grönholm of...
, he was hired by Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
. Driving a Peugeot 206 WRC
Peugeot 206 WRC
Peugeot 206 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 206. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, in the World Rally Championship from 1999 to 2003. The car brought Peugeot the manufacturers' world title three years in a row from 2000 to 2002...
, he took his first WRC win at the Swedish Rally
Swedish Rally
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...
. The same year he finished fifth in the overall championship only eight points behind the winner, Richard Burns
Richard Burns
Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002...
, despite missing two rallies. He also competed at the Race of Champions
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers...
, and by winning the individual event and taking home the Henri Toivonen
Henri Toivonen
Henri Pauli Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli Toivonen, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri Toivonen, became a professional circuit racer.Toivonen's first World Rally Championship victory came...
Memorial Trophy, he earned the title Champion of Champions.
2002
The 2002 season began as usual with the Monte Carlo RallyMonte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
, and Rovanpera competed in a privateer Bozian-Racing run Peugeot 206 WRC. He retired on the 7th stage with broken steering after an off; Tommi Mäkinen
Mäkinen
Mäkinen is a surname originating in Finland , where it is the fourth most common surname. It may also refer to, alphabetically:*Jarmo Mäkinen , Finnish actor...
won the race in front of a penalized Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
, while Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times...
finished third.
The second rally was in Sweden, where Harri returned in the official factory-entered Peugeot 206 WRC, and he finished the rally in second place, 1'24" behind team mate Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the...
, despite winning two stages and leading the rally from Stages 3 to 14.
The next two rallies were Tour de Corse and Rally de Cataluñya, both on tarmac, where Harri competed for the Bozian-run team; on both rallies he failed to score, finishing only 11th (Corsica) and a solid 7th place (Cataluñya), on a surface he traditionally struggled.
The next rally took place on the island of Cyprus, where heavy rain made conditions treacherous. In this event, as in all the successive gravel events, Harri drove the official Peugeot works car; he finished 4th winning 1 stage. The rally was won again by his team mate Grönholm.
The WRC circus moved then to Argentina, where Peugeot had a dismal rally, Harri retired after engine problems on S.S.10, Gronhölm and Burns took first and second, but were both disqualified a few days later due to an illegal flywheel and illegal servicing respectively; so Sainz won the rally from Petter Solberg
Petter Solberg
Petter "Hollywood" Solberg , from Spydeberg in Østfold, Norway, is a professional rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999...
.
In Greece, on a very hot and rough surface, Harri managed a 4th place, winning 1 S.S., the rally winner was Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
.
The "World's toughest Rally", the Safari Rally, gifted Harri with a second place, 2'50" behind the winner Colin McRae, in a rally that forced many of the drivers to retire.
In Finland Harri had maybe his strongest rally of the season, in fact, he even took the lead in the 12th stage, but on the next stage he crashed and a front suspension part was badly damaged, forcing him to retire; however, the rally was won by teammate Gronholm for the third year running.
In Germany (newcomer race in the WRC) Harri drove an official car, as regular tarmac expert Gilles Panizzi
Gilles Panizzi
Gilles Panizzi is a French rally driver on the World Rally Championship circuit.Gilles was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes...
was withdrawn from the event due to a shoulder injury sustained while carrying out DIY at his home. However, Rovanpera was forced to retire after a very difficult rally, which saw the first victory of Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
in a Citroën Xsara.
In Sanremo, Harri returned to the Bozian team, but on asphalt the Finnish driver struggled and finished ninth, whilst Gilles Panizzi took a stunning win after the injury just three weeks before.
The championship returned to the gravel for the final rush, in New Zealand Harri drove a faultless race despite a hydraulic problem, finishing second, 3'50" as teammate Marcus Grönholm clinched his second world drivers championship.
The championship continued in the southern hemisphere with Rally Australia, and Rovanpera finished in second place again behind his team mate Grönholm, but this time only 57" behind, and winning 8 stages of the rally.
The season came to an end in the forests of Wales, where Harri finished 7th and out of the points after a race full of mistakes.
So the season ended with Harri finishing 7th overall with 30 points, 47 behind teammate Gronholm, but only 7 behind runner-up Petter Solberg.
Next Seasons
In 2003 and 2004, he drove for Peugeot in gravel rallies, obtaining 3 podium places (Cyprus 2003 (2nd), Acropolis 2004 (3rd) and Australia 2004 (2nd)). In 2005, Rovanperä switched to MitsubishiMitsubishi Motors
is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...
's factory team and competed a full WRC programme, finishing seventh in the drivers' world championship with only final podium in Australia, where was second behind Duval. After Mitsubishi suddenly left the series before the 2006 season, Rovanperä signed on to drive Škoda Fabia WRC for Red Bull Škoda Team in six events without any significant result.
In 2007, Rovanperä was a regular competitor of the SRC Finnish Rallycross
Rallycross
Rallycross is a form of sprint style automobile racing, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built road cars, similar to the World Rally Cars, although usually with about stronger engines, due to e.g. their 45 mm turbo restrictor plates. It is...
Championship with a rear-wheel driven Ford Focus as well as a Volvo S40
Volvo S40
The Volvo S40 is a small family car produced by Volvo. It introduced the first generation S40 and V40 cars in 1995...
, but finished only 11th overall. He had many technical problems with both cars.
In 2010 Harri and his co-driver
Co-driver
Co-driver is the term given to the navigator of rally car in the sport of rally racing, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver, often over a radio headset, due to the high level of noise in the car...
Jouni Närhi got the first overall in La Carrera Panamericana
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sports car racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, it was widely held by contemporaries to be the most dangerous race of any type in the world...
in a Studebaker
Studebaker Land Cruiser
The Studebaker Land Cruiser was an automobile produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana from 1934-1954. The Land Cruiser debuted at the World's Fair alongside the Silver Arrow, a product of Studebaker's former premium make Pierce-Arrow.The Land Cruiser was introduced at the...
1953.
WRC victories
| # | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  50th International Swedish RallySwedish Rally The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish... |
2001 | Risto Pietiläinen | Peugeot 206 WRC |