Kalle Rovanperä could be a triple rally world champion by the end of the season and Formula One drivers will be watching his next move with interest.
The 25-year-old Finn announced this month he will switch to circuit racing next year, starting with Japanese Super Formula.
Depending on how the Toyota-backed driver goes, Formula Two and ultimately Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race could be in his sights.
Racers have gone from two wheels to four, the late John Surtees winning world titles in both, but making a successful transition from rallying to F1 would be breaking new ground.
Challenges ahead for the Finn
Fernando Alonso, a double F1 world champion who has competed in the Dakar Rally and won Le Mans with Toyota and races in F1 with Aston Martin, was keen to see how Rovanperä went.
“Definitely he will face some challenges,” the Spaniard told reporters in Mexico last weekend.
“Rally was always playing with the two feet, brake and throttle for the whole time in a stage. Then the limits of the car and the limits of what you can do are shockingly different.”
Esteban Ocon, whose Haas F1 team has a technical partnership with Toyota, said he understood why Rovanperä would want the challenge.
“I think, first of all, it’s awesome,” said the Frenchman.
“It’s going to be a story that I follow closely, and I’ve been following him when he was doing some Porsche Cup races.
“If I was him, winning two titles in WRC and being so young and having Toyota in support, definitely you want to try something else.”
Rovanperä has won three rallies this year and is second overall in the standings with two rounds remaining, 13 behind teammate Elfyn Evans and level with eight times champion Sebastien Ogier.
Circuit racing is, however, a completely different sport for someone used to throwing cars around muddy corners, over blind crests and through fog-shrouded forests and around mountains, sometimes with snowbanks or sheer drops off the side of the road.
Rally drivers have a co-driver alongside to help, whereas Rovanperä would be going it alone with the emphasis on setting up the car rather than memorising stages.
Ocon said Super Formula One was a tough series, with battle-hardened local drivers and engineers who spoke little English.
Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen, whose ex-F1 driver father Jos has switched to rallying for his own amusement, agreed Rovanperä would not find it easy.
“To go straight into a Super Formula car is a big jump,” the Dutch driver told Reuters. “But again, if you are fully committed, you believe in yourself and you work hard for it, then who knows?
“I’m very interested to see how it’s going to turn out because it’s great, it’s not really been done before like that.
“At the end of the day, he won two championships. So his dream is probably achieved anyway. Now this is a different challenge, and maybe he wanted that when he was younger as well.”
Verstappen ruled out ever going the other way himself, even if his father was completely converted to his own change of scene.
“I’ve sat next to him (Jos). It’s pretty insane to sit next to someone being so committed,” added the champion. “Personally, I don’t think rallying is for me.”
Reuters
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