Kalle Rovanpera, the reigning WRC champion, will venture into endurance racing with a debut at the Dubai 24 Hours.
As preparation for the Monte Carlo Rally goes, heading for the Middle East to contest a 24-hour race is on the unconventional side. But the news announced shortly before Christmas that Kalle Rovanpera will make his endurance racing debut in next week's Dubai 24 Hours only underlines that he is indeed feeling 'recharged' ahead of his full-time WRC return this year, following a partial campaign in 2024 dovetailed with a race-winning programme in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux.
Before commencing his bid to reclaim the WRC title he won in 2022 and 2023 from Hyundai's Thierry Neuville on the traditional 23-26 January Monte Carlo season opener, the 24-year-old Finn will tick another item off his bucket list at the Dubai Autodrome as the twice-around-the-clock enduro is staged for a 20th year. The Porsche 911 GT3 R run by Proton Huber Competition that Rovanpera will share with four other drivers - Jukka Honkavuori, Jani Kakela, Mark Wallenwein and Joel Monegro - forms part of a deep entry list that comprises reigning champions of the World Endurance Championship in LMGT3, as well as three ex-Formula 1 drivers. #969 Huber Racing Porsche GT3 R: Jukka Honkavuori, Jani Kakela, Kalle Rovanpera Photo by: Huber Racing So impressive were the performances of Alexander Malykhin on his way to the inaugural WEC LMGT3 crown last year that he was upgraded from bronze to silver status in the FIA's driver rankings, effectively precluding a title defence with Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm. But Malykhin, who steps up to LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series this season with the newly-renamed CLX squad previously called Cool Racing, will return to a Porsche with a crew that must be considered among the favourite
WRC Endurance Racing Dubai 24 Hours Kalle Rovanpera Porsche
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