Kalle Rovanperä completed two days of testing in an F2 car last week, which taught him plenty
Photography by Kalle Rovanperä
Words by Luke Barry
Kalle Rovanperä has identified the biggest challenge of his circuit-racing switch for 2026, having completed a two-day test in a Formula 2 car last week.
The double World Rally champion will race in Japanese Super Formula next season before hopefully moving up to F2 and then potentially Formula 1 in the future.
Rovanperä does already have some racing experience, winning races in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux last year and competing in 24h Dubai at the start of this year.
But last week’s test gave the Finn vital experience in a single-seater, where he impressed himself with his speed.
Rovanperä told DirtFish: “I haven’t really been doing any proper test days before, so it was a good two days in the car, getting some seat time and seeing where we are, where we start the project.
Rovanperä was pleasantly surprised by his pace in an F2 car
“Pace-wise it was actually pretty good – to be honest, even a bit better than what probably I was expecting,” he added. “Obviously there is a lot of work to do, but let’s say starting from zero the pace was not bad.
“Then there is many other things to learn, obviously physically also. Two full days in the car, it’s quite heavy when you come from a rally car, so there is a lot of work to do.”
Building up the required neck strength is a clear target for Rovanperä, as it’s not an area rally drivers need to focus on but is crucial in formula racing.
“Yeah, obviously the neck is not really what you need in rallying. I don’t think you need it in many other sports either, like you need there [in formula racing],” he explained. “So, yeah, when you start to have the proper corner Gs all the time, basically from corner to corner, the head starts to be a bit heavy.”
An athlete as dedicated as Rovanperä will be able to get himself to the required fitness standard, but the challenge he faces is his schedule.
This week he’s competing in Rally Japan while the WRC season finale in Saudi Arabia isn’t until the last weekend of November. He will then test a Super Formula car in December before his first competition in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy in January.
That doesn’t give him a lot of time, which is why Rovanperä pinpointed physically getting himself to the right level as “a much bigger challenge than the driving skills”.
He added: “Driving will come with time, I don’t see any big issue there. But yeah for sure having these rally weeks here between the testing and everything I don’t really have so much time to prepare and train myself so yeah, the beginning of the year will be tough.
“Obviously then during next year we’ll have much more time to train and the more seat time you get in the car the better it is. Obviously you always also need to sit in the cars and drive them, that’s the best training you can get.
“So yeah obviously others have been going through the small formulas and getting stronger and stronger all the time, so it’s not so easy to jump straight in, but it’s fine.”
Rovanperä loved his F2 test, but his focus now is firmly on chasing Rally Japan and WRC title glory
While excited for his future having had “good fun” during his test, Rovanperä’s immediate focus is firmly on Rally Japan and chasing a third WRC title.
“I don’t think it’s difficult to refocus but obviously it’s not easy to jump from car to car, which we knew will be the challenge of this end of the year,” he said.
“Jumping between basically three different formula cars, or like three different formula categories, plus Rally1 I don’t think it’s very optimal, but we knew that. That’s how the plan is and now we focus on rallying.
“Obviously the focus is easy to turn here. We have a big weekend coming, two big weekends coming, so that’s fine. But yeah, for sure the first corner in shakedown will be a bit different after the formula car, but we’ll be fine.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Formula 2, Kalle Rovanperä, Rally Japan 2025, WRC 2025
Publish Date November 3, 2025 DirtFish
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