Kalle Rovanperä (Finnish: [ˈkɑlːe ˈroʋɑnˌperæ]; born 1 October 2000) is a Finnish professional rally driver who competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen.
As the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, he garnered international attention by starting rallying at an exceptionally young age.
He won the World Rally Championship-2 Pro in 2019, and was promoted to the top tier by Toyota as their works driver in 2020.
[4] Prior to his participation in the professional championships, he was coached by many compatriots, including Esapekka Lappi, who commented that a young Rovanperä already knew as much as him.
[5] In 2015, at the age of 14, Rovanperä competed in Latvia where having a driver's license is not a requirement to take part in rallying.
[31] His only retirement of the season was at the 2019 Tour de Corse, where he crashed out during the ninth special stage.
[32] In November 2019, Toyota announced that Rovanperä would drive for the Japanese manufacturer in 2020, alongside world champion Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans.
[38] Following a series of troublesome events, Rovanperä took his first WRC career victory at the 2021 Rally Estonia.
[39] The victory saw him become the youngest driver to win a World Rally Championship event at 21 years and 289 days, breaking the previous record of 22 years and 313 days held by his team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.
[42] Rovanperä started 2022 with a fourth place at the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally, before he went on to win a hat-trick events.
[43] Following a fifth place at the 2022 Rally Italia Sardegna, he secured back-to-back victories to build a commanding lead in the championship.
[55] In 2023, he entered two rounds of the Formula Drift Japan with a Toyota GR Corolla, claiming a win at Ebisu and a second place at Okayama.
In June 2017, the Finnish transport safety agency Trafi granted Rovanperä special permission to apply for a driver's license when he turned 17.