The Toyota of the current championship leader rolled over three times after a badly negotiated corner exit.
Heavily damaged, the Yaris could not return to the road.
The driver and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen quickly got out of the car through the windscreen giving thumbs up that they were fine.
Rovanpera had set the best time on the first stage of the day before making his first big mistake this season.
Forced to retire, the young Finn (21) has not yet indicated whether he will return to rally 2 in order to score a few points during the Power Stage on Sunday.
Rovanpera leads the championship with a comfortable lead (94 and 95 points) over the Hyundais of Estonian Ott Tänak and Belgian Thierry Neuville.
After two of the eight stages scheduled for Friday, the lead in the Belgian rally standings is occupied by Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota).
© 2022 AFP