Photo: Kalle Rovanpera
Hitech GP has run Kalle Rovanpera in a private Formula 2 test at Jerez, as the two-time World Rally champion prepares himself to race in the championship in 2027.
Rovanpera, currently fighting to for a third World Rally Championship title with Toyota, announced earlier this month that he would end his professional rallying career at the end of 2025 and switch focus to circuit racing from next year onwards.
Single-seaters is a major part of his future career plan, which has the backing of Toyota. It is understood he will make his open-wheel racing debut in the Toyota-powered Formula Regional Oceania at the start of 2025, before stepping up to single-seaters top tier by joining a Toyota-powered team in Japan’s Super Formula championship.
At the end of 2024, Hitech entered an alliance with Toyota Gazoo Racing which led to it incorporating the name of Toyota’s motorsport division into its own in the championships it races in. In 2026, it will enter FRegional Oceania for the first time.
The Jerez test is set to be the first of many, with Hitech having already adorned one of its previous-generation F2 cars with Rovanpera’s name and the number he uses in WRC. His first days in the car have also been publicised, which is rare for private test programmes.
“First F2 test done! Can be quite happy with the test days. We got some valuable seat time and finally real feeling with the car!” the 25-year-old Finn said of his Jerez outing in a social media post.
“Driving is physically quite tough as I knew. There are lot of g-forces which are hard to replicate and will take some time to get used to, so happy I managed to get this seat time and can’t wait for more!”
His WRC team-mate Takamoto Katsuta was Japanese Formula 3 runner-up before he switched disciplines to rallying.
In addition to its Hitech deal, TGR has recently been involved in F2 through Ritomo Miyata’s campaigns there. He was a Toyota junior on his way up the single-seater ladder, and won the 2023 SF and Super GT titles with Toyota team TOM’S.
As part of its ‘Challenge Program’ driver development scheme, TGR then relocated Miyata’s career to Europe. He was 19th in F2 with Rodin Motorsport as a rookie, and is currently 16th in the 2025 F2 standings with ART Grand Prix. A tie-up between TGR and the Haas Formula 1 team means he has also done several F1 tests this year. His 2026 plans are yet to be revealed.
F2 will soon have another talent from motorsport’s top-level on the grid, as IndyCar race-winner Colton Herta joins Hitech’s line-up next season with an eye on making the 2027 F1 grid.