Photo: Red Bull
Kalle Rovanpera’s switch from rallying to single-seater racing next year will begin with a Formula Regional Oceania campaign in which he will drive for Hitech GP.
It was announced in October that Rovanpera would leave the World Rally Championship, where he has twice been champion with Toyota, and switch to circuit racing with the backing of the brand he has had most of his career success with.
Since then he has done a private Formula 2 test with Hitech GP, and Formula Scout previously reported that his first races would come in the Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand-organised FRegional Oceania at the start of 2026.
That has now been confirmed, with the programme being in addition to the already announced plan of joining a Toyota-powered team in Japan’s top-tier Super Formula championship.
Hitech entered an alliance with TGR at the end of 2024 that led to it incorporating the name of Toyota’s motorsport division into its own in the championships it races in. In 2026, Hitech enters the Toyota-powered FRegional Oceania for the first time.
“It has not been an easy choice by any means,” Rovanpera, who is still only 25 years old, said of his career switch.
“I have already achieved so much in rallying and I have achieved those things at a young age. It feels like the right timing to pursue my next dreams and challenges. We’ve been making some good plans to prepare the best ways possible so that I can make the most of this opportunity. I’m really looking forward to pushing myself in the world of single-seaters.”
Rovanpera’s WRC career concluded at the season-ending Rally Saudi Arabia last weekend where team-mate Sebastian Ogier won a record-equalling ninth title. Ogier performed strongly in a French Formula 4 cameo back in 2011, while another team-mate Takamoto Katsuta was 2013 Japanese Formula 3 runner-up before he switched to rallying under Toyota’s tutelage.
Last year Rovanpera started to gain circuit racing experience via sportscars, coming fourth in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux as a part-timer and cameoing in the equivalent Italian championship. He then got a first taste of endurance racing in 2025.