For this 3rd round of the season, the second in a row without the semi-retired Loeb and Ogier, who should soon find themselves face to face for a new freelance, in Portugal, Rovanperä will be favorites, on paper, but he will have to avoid to think too much about the 2021 edition.

Disconcerted by the lack of grip on the Croatian roads, the Finn had lost control of his Toyota from the start of this inaugural edition.

Suddenly, he leaves with a handicap, that of not having already experienced these roads, in the race, for three days.

"Everyone here has a year more experience than me on this rally, whereas last year was a new rally for everyone, so it will be a bit difficult for me," he said. he, "but I have already experienced this situation before and I will just try to manage as best I can".

With his co-driver Jonne Halttunen, Rovanperä watched the videos of last year for a long time: "Everyone says that the stages were quite difficult, because the grip changed all the time, and you can see that in the videos of the on-board cameras".

Main consequence of a successful start to the season (4th in Monte-Carlo, winner in Sweden), the young Kalle, 21, has a 14-point lead over Thierry Neuville, the leader of Hyundai.

Including nine points gleaned in Power Stage, out of ten possible, which gives an idea of ​​his level of performance.

Finland's Kalle Rovanperä and his teammate Jonne Halttunen on the podium of the Swedish rally where Belgians Thierry Neuville and Martjin Wydeghe finished 2nd, on February 27, 2022 at Umea Micke FRANSSON TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP/Archives

Evans on familiar ground

On the South Korean side, Neuville knows that the season is going to be long and that we will have to be constant to take advantage of the internal rivalry at Toyota.

The Belgian, 6th in Monte-Carlo and 2nd in Sweden, will find in Croatia favorable ground for the agility of his Hyundai.

He is the other big favorite at the start of the 291 km timed spread over 20 special stages, after a two-month break from Sweden, which was "very useful, with increased motivation by the podium in Sweden", summarizes Julien Moncet, one of the heads of Hyundai Motorsport.

"It's a very demanding event, the grip is very low and the roads can be very dirty, in addition to being very narrow", says Neuville, 3rd last year, who also fears "the many blind turns, bumps and (dirty) strings".

His teammate Ott Tänak, 2019 world champion, will also be aiming for victory, after a 4th place last year, just like Evans, who missed his start to the season (21st in Monte-Carlo, retirement in Sweden) but had finished 2nd. last year, just behind Sébastien Ogier, after a suspenseful final.

"It's not an easy rally, but it went well for me last year," said Evans.

"There are things that I had learned which will be useful to me. We tested on particularly slippery roads, similar to those which we will encounter here".

British driver Elfyn Evans after the Catalunya Grand Prix on October 17, 2021 in Salou Pau BARRENA AFP / Archives

One thing is certain, the band of four (Rovanperä, Evans, Neuville and Tänak) have every interest in taking advantage of this rally to score big points because, in just one month, in Portugal, the two Sébastien, Loeb and probably Ogier, will be back on land they love, for fun.

It will be another story.

© 2022 AFP