Calle Rowanbere won the rally in New Zealand and was crowned world champion

First change: 02/10/2022 – 06:08Last change: 02/10/2022 – 06:07

AUCKLAND (AFP) – Finland’s Kalle Rovenpere won the World Rally Championship in Spain and Japan after winning the World Rally Championship in New Zealand in Auckland against Frenchman Sébastien Ogier and Estonian Ott Tanak.

A day after his 22nd birthday, Rovenpere moved 53 points ahead of Tanak, now with 64 points, to become the youngest world champion in history and the first Finn to win the WRC title in 20 years.

“Kalle has kept beating us, nothing to say, congratulations to him,” declared Dhanak, the world champion in 2019.

Thanak has won three rallies this season but has been unable to extend the suspense beyond the New Zealand rally, which has not been on the calendar for 10 years.

As each World Rally Championship (WRC) win carries a maximum of 30 points, Rovanperä has won six of 11 rallies this season and is out of the title race.

Ogier, the eight-time world champion and defending champion, has only competed in a handful of events this year.

The WRC’s youngest world champion, created in 1972, was British Colin McRae in 1995, who was crowned at the age of 27.

The last Finnish World Rally Champion was Markus Kronholm in 2002, when the rally driver’s son, Kalle Rowenpere, was just two years old.