WRC Canary Islands Rally 2025: Kalle Rovanperä outclasses the competition

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) won the Canary Islands Rally on Sunday, which was held for the first time as part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) as the fourth round of the 2025 season, after an absolutely stellar performance. The Finn was in a league of his own on the asphalt roads of Gran Canaria, leaving his rivals no chance.

Rovanperä won 15 of the 18 special stages, the Power Stage, and Sunday's classification, finishing 53.5 seconds ahead of his teammate Sebastien Ogier. Elfyn Evans (+1:17.1 minutes) completed an all-Toyota podium in third place and remains in the lead in the World Championship standings.

Another Toyota driver, Takamoto Katsuta, followed in fourth place. Had Sami Pajari not retired after an accident on Saturday's twelfth special stage, the Finnish-Japanese factory team could have even celebrated a quintuple victory in Gran Canaria.

Opponents pay respect to Rovanpera's gala performance

Hyundai had no chance against Toyota and suffered another heavy defeat in its WRC debut rally. Adrien Fourmaux, Ott Tänak, and Thierry Neuville had to settle for fifth to seventh place.

Yohan Rossel (Citroen) finished eighth, winning the WRC2 classification. Two other WRC2 drivers, Alejandro Cachon (Toyota) and Nikolai Gryasin (Skoda), rounded out the top 10. M-Sport finished the Canary Islands Rally empty-handed. Gregoier Munster finished eleventh after an accident on Saturday, while Joshua McErlean was forced to retire after a skid.

Rovanperä, who had struggled somewhat in the first three races of the season on the new Hankook tires, dominated proceedings from the start in Gran Canaria. He won all six special stages on Friday and continued this streak on Saturday . It wasn't until SS 13, a short spectator stage at the end of the day, that another driver, Evans, was able to claim a fastest time.

Hyundai cannot find a suitable setup

"There's someone here who's in a league of his own," said Sebastien Ogier, who is usually much more comfortable on asphalt than Rovanperä, already acknowledging his teammate's dominance at this point. After Rovanperä also won the first two special stages on Sunday, he then focused on bringing home the win. He succeeded, scoring the maximum number of points: 35.

"This is great. It certainly wasn't the easiest start to the season, but we've shown here that we're back in these conditions," says Rovanperä. "Many thanks to the whole team, both at home in the workshop and here on site."

Hyundai was on the losing side from the start in Gran Canaria, despite what they claimed was a successful test and Neuville's victory in a national rally in Spain. From the start, all the drivers complained about the handling of their i20 N Rally1. "We have understeer, it [the car] is missing everything, so you can't go fast or attack," Neuville complained on Friday.

Various changes to the setup also brought no progress. "We're really trying to push the car as far as possible to make it work well, but I'm at the limit of what I can do," Neuville finally admitted on Saturday. "I don't have any other differentials available this weekend. I'm relying on what I have."

As mentioned, Evans continues to lead the World Championship standings after four of the season's 14 races, with 109 points to his name. Rovanperä jumps to second with 66 points, while Neuville (59) is third. In the manufacturers' standings, Toyota (208) leads Hyundai (157) and M-Sport (58).

The WRC 2025 continues from May 15th to 18th with the Rally Portugal.