History writing in motorsport does not get much cleaner than this. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen delivered a masterclass in New Zealand in 2022, securing their first titles in style.
Just one day after turning 22 years old, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver stood atop the podium as the youngest drivers' world champion the WRC had ever seen. They took victory by beating Sébastien Ogier with a gap of 34.6sec, marking Rovanperä's sixth win of the season and locking down an unassailable advantage with two rounds still left to run.
Before this, Colin McRae had held the age record since taking the 1995 championship at 27. Rovanperä smashed that benchmark by more than five years, achieving the feat in only his third season at the top level of the sport. It capped off a stunning campaign that already featured three successive victories in Sweden, Croatia and Portugal, while finally bringing Finland its first drivers' world champion since Marcus Grönholm back in 2002.
Meanwhile, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard's third place in Croatia four years later brought a familiar partnership back to the top-level rostrum after a long absence. The pair had aimed to pilot their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cleanly through the unpredictable asphalt stages, and that sensible approach carried them further than they had initially expected.
A puncture on Saturday served as a sharp reminder of the hazards posed by loose gravel and shifting grip levels. Paddon nursed the machine through the trouble, leaving the crew sitting fourth overall as they entered the final day of the rally.
Fortune finally favored them when team-mates Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe went off on the Power Stage and failed to finish, promoting Paddon and Kennard up to third place. It marked Paddon's first outright WRC podium since Australia in 2018, and Kennard's first since Poland in 2016.
"It's definitely bittersweet for us," Paddon said, acknowledging the misfortune of his team-mates. Yet for the returning crew, being back on a WRC podium after so many years was a major achievement, earned by simply staying in the fight on an unforgiving rally.
