The most unusual single-seater project in motorsport has a pulse again. Toyota Gazoo Racing says Kalle Rovanpera, the two-time World Rally champion, has been medically cleared to resume his racing programme — three months after an inner-ear condition halted his switch out of rallying.
Rovanpera's gamble was startling from the start. At 25, with two WRC titles already won, he chose to leave the sport that made him and start over in circuit racing, mapping a path through Japan's Super Formula, into Formula 2, and ultimately toward Formula 1. It barely got going. A diagnosis of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo — which disrupts balance and vision via the inner ear — forced him out of a Super Formula test last December, and he abandoned his 2026 plans in March.
Toyota's statement stressed gradual progress. "Two-time FIA World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera is ready to continue chasing his racing dreams in partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing after making strong progress in his recovery over recent weeks," it read.
The team pointed to specialist help behind the recovery. "To assist in his recovery, Kalle has been working closely with KIHU, the Finnish institute of High Performance Sport based in Jyvaskyla," the statement said. "Best known for supporting Finland's Olympic and national team athletes, KIHU has provided scientific expertise to optimise Rovanpera's recovery and training and has now cleared him to make a return to the track."
The ambition is intact, but the calendar has moved. Toyota set the goal as "returning to competitive racing in 2027," with Rovanpera back in physical training and lining up a "phased return to driving." Anything firmer will follow "in due course."
The bigger question — can a rally great actually reach F1? — stays unanswered. Rovanpera carries the tag of the WRC's Verstappen, the category's youngest podium finisher, winner and champion, raised in the sport by his rally-winning father Harri. Yet on circuits he is still learning.
The Race did not sugar-coat the challenge: "Super Formula is immensely difficult, then F2 will be another challenge entirely. This is going to take some time, and that's assuming he adjusts quickly enough and has the ultimate potential required."
It did, however, sketch a way through. His backing may outweigh that of rival hopeful Colton Herta: "Red Bull's F1 teams and its talent programme are an obvious fit... what a story it would be for the brand. No doubt Helmut Marko would love the idea." A separate avenue exists through Toyota, whose Haas partnership is built in part to create F1 openings for its drivers.
That is all for later. The immediate story is straightforward: a young champion who feared his health might end the dream before it started has been told to go racing again — with 2027 now the line in the sand.
