Kalle Rovanperä will once again have a chance to win the Driver’s’ Championship at the Central European Rally this weekend.
How Rovanperä Can Win
Kalle Rovanperä has a strong chance at taking home his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship this weekend. All Rovanperä has to do is the following to win the championship. Score equal to or more points than Elfyn Evans. Alternatively, if Rovanperä scores 1 point less than Evans he will also win the championship via countback. However, if he wins this way, the championship likely won’t be awarded until Rally Japan.
How Evans Can Stay In The Battle
Elfyn Evans also won’t have the hardest of times stopping Rovanperä from winning the championship this weekend. As all he needs to do is score 2 points more than Rovanperä to remain in the championship race. However, even if Evans scores the 2 points needed to stay in the championship hunt it likely won’t matter. As that will only put Evans 29 points behind Rovanperä. This means Rovanperä will likely win the championship in Japan next month. As at that point the only way Evans could win the championship is if he wins Rally Japan and places second or higher on the Powerstage and Rovanperä retires.
Rovanperä’s To Lose
Given everything previously mentioned, Kalle Rovanperä has practically won the drivers’ championship. There’s about an 80% chance Rovanperä will claim the championship this weekend. Yes, the amount of points Evans needs to stop Rovanperä from winning is slim. However, Rovanperä is head and shoulders the best driver in the championship currently and Evans won’t have an easy time beating Rovanperä this weekend. The battle will come down to experience. Evans has more experience, especially under pressure. While Rovanperä really doesn’t. Evans needs to hope he pressures Rovanperä into a mistake or Rovanperä makes a mistake on his own.