Jonne Halttunen speaks exclusively to Club DirtFish about Kalle Rovanperä's circuit racing decision
Photography by Toyota
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
Think back to the finish of Rally Finland. For Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen it was the pure joy of winning.
Now we know it was more than that. So much more.
In a revealing interview – available exclusively on Club DirtFish – Halttunen has talked about the emotions flowing through the #69 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 on those two final-day passes of Ouninpohja. The Finns both knew that could well be the end of their world rally story at home.
A couple of weeks before, shortly before the proceeding Rally Estonia, Rovanperä had told Halttunen about his decision to walk away from the WRC at the end of the year.
“My first reaction was, for sure, shocked,” Halttunen told Club DirtFish. “[I was] not happy. I was thinking like, ‘Why? What is the reason?’ Like, I didn’t see any point in it. So first reaction was negative, but it’s already been a few months since I heard it. At that time I was still thinking that we should do or we could do like two [more] seasons.
“Now you can maybe see [the Finland finish reaction] in a different way. That meant a lot, because I knew, already going into the rally, that this can be my last Rally Finland with the Rally1 car, let’s say the top-level car. You never know, but… that was the feeling and you can also imagine the feeling was quite mixed after the event.
“We were winning the rally and there was so, so many Finnish fans and everybody was chanting our names. And the feeling on the Monday after was like: ‘Is this really it? Was this the last time?’ It felt like a bit super-mixed. Of course, you’re happy about the win and finally you achieve it but also, same time, you know that this is maybe the last time.”
And now for Jonne? What’s the future? Will he keep co-driving?
“I could do,” he said, “but in Finland at least… I could do the pacenotes in English also, but it’s not so easy to find a driver who is not Finnish speaking. But in my position, let’s say a few years back we had a few Finnish drivers and it would have been an easier way to switch to some other driver, but now we have only Sami [Pajari] in the top level and I’m not interested in anything else anymore than top level.
Halttunen isn't interested in co-driving at a level lower than the very top
“I wouldn’t go to Rally2 anymore because I’ve already done that path in a long game and won the title. So realistically thinking, I think the co-driving career may be over for a while now because there’s just no drivers. We have discussed with Kalle that if he comes back, we will continue together or if he wants to any kind of racing which needs a co-driver, we will do these things together. But that can still take years that it’s going to happen. So really hard to say, to be honest.
“I could see I’m in my prime for co-driving,” Halttunen added. “It’s a bit sad that the career ends now, because I still want to go, let’s say, at least four years or something. And then I would happily step out or maybe even still continue, but happily to step out.
“In a way, I feel I’m in my middle point of my co-driving career and it’s stopped there.”
Join Club DirtFish to watch the full 19-minute interview with Halttunen, where he discusses more about Rovanperä’s decision and what other future roles may interest him.
Words:David Evans
Tags: Jonne Halttunen, Kalle Rovanperä, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date October 15, 2025 DirtFish
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