A “must-see” event in December in recent years, the Rallye Hivernal du Dévoluy has a habit of welcoming beautiful people among its entrants. Indeed, this escapade in the Hautes-Alpes is one of the last opportunities for the teams competing in the WRC to prepare in “competition” for the Monte-Carlo Rally, opening the world championship season each year (January 23-26, 2025). ).
This 9th edition of the event demonstrates its importance for manufacturers with the presence of some big names like Adrien Fourmaux, who takes the opportunity to continue to acclimatize to his Hyundai i20, or Kalle Rovanperä, at the wheel for the first time of the Yaris version 2025.
Rovanperä in discovery mode
It was therefore on a Rally1 without a hybrid system that the double world champion took his first outings on snowy roads this weekend. As a reminder, the FIA has declared the end of hybridization introduced in 2022 which has never made the field happy, most competitors considering it too expensive and unreliable.
Obviously, the presence of the Finn attracted people to the roadside and to the assistance where he was one of the most popular protagonists. He took part in the game of autographs and photos.
© Loïc Rocci
First with Hankook
Still on the work plan for the 2025 season, Kalle Rovanperä got a first idea of Hankook tires, the new exclusive supplier of the WRC after the departure of Pirelli. It was therefore not a question of playing the times but of doing some tests, even the most eccentric ones like snow tires mounted on dry surfaces. The goal was to better understand the car, the tires and both together.
This allowed Toyota and its driver to establish benchmarks with the new compound and see how it reacts while the collaboration between the WRC and Pirelli has been very controversial.
With Loïc Rocci
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