The Japanese Toyota team announced on Tuesday that Kalle Rovanpera will return to the World Rally Championship, which he won twice, next year, after he left the competition in 2025 to try track racing.
The 26-year-old Finn will participate in part of the season, allowing other drivers, including Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, nine-time world champion, to participate in specific races.
Rovanpera said in a statement: “I enjoy the opportunity to do different things, but rallying has been a big part of my life, and of course I started to miss driving after a while.”
In 2022, Rovanpera became the youngest driver to win the World Rally Championship at the age of 22, then left to explore other opportunities. Due to health problems, he suspended his plans to participate in track racing.
He will be joined by Estonian Ott Tanak, who was crowned champion with Toyota in 2019 and returns after a one-year absence.
Toyota will run two separate teams, with two different cars and six drivers in total in the new rules era.
The Toyota Racing team will include the British 2026 world champion Elvin Evans, the Swedish Oliver Solberg, and the Finnish Sami Pajari, and will launch the new car (Celica Rally 1) for the first time.
The Gazoo Racing Toyota team will compete with the new GR Yaris car, which will be driven by Rovanpera, Tanak and Japanese Takamoto Katsuta.
This year, Toyota won the Manufacturers' Championship title for the sixth time in a row, equaling the record.
The draw for the Women's European Nations League placed England in a group that includes France, Austria and Portugal. This tournament is considered a qualifier for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
The winner of each group qualifies directly to the Olympic Games, and also guarantees a place in the semi-finals of the European Nations League.
The Spanish team, the world champion, came in the most difficult group, along with the teams of Ireland, Norway and Switzerland.
On the other hand, the Wales national team will face Denmark, Italy and Iceland, while the Scottish national team will play against Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The first and second rounds are scheduled to be held in February and March, then the third and fourth rounds in April, with the group stage competitions concluding in June, before the start of the Women’s World Cup in Brazil, according to the British news agency PA Media.
The semi-finals are scheduled for October, while the third-place match and final will be held in late November and early December.
Sorana Cirstea, ranked 15th in the world, needed 3 hours and 10 minutes to qualify for the round of 16 of the Hong Kong Open Tennis Championship.
The Romanian player defeated Uzbek Maria Timofeeva, ranked 70th in the world, with a score of 7-6 (8/6), 1/6, and 7/5, in a confrontation that witnessed many fluctuations.
Cirstea won the first set via a tiebreaker, but her opponent came back strongly in the second set, winning it 6/1 in her favor, bringing the match to a decisive set.
In the end, Sorana succeeded in gathering her strength to win the third set with a score of 7/5.
Sorana Cirstea will face American player Marie Stojana, ranked 114th in the world, in order to reserve a place in the quarter-finals, according to what the Women’s Tennis Association website indicated.
Stojana achieved one of the surprises of the first round by eliminating veteran star Venus Williams, winning her in two clean sets (6/2, 6/3).
On the other hand, Alexandra Ella began her participation in the Hong Kong Championship with a victory, after defeating Emerson Jones, ranked 132 in the world, with a score of 6/4, 6/3.
