Kalle Rovanperä has won the 2025 Rally Islas Canarias, leading a strong Toyota team and taking control from start to finish.
The final day of the rally started with drama. Josh McErlean went wide at 4.9km into Stage 14 and hit an armco barrier. His car’s suspension was badly damaged, and he had to retire.
Many drivers struggled with their pace notes for the Maspalomas stage (SS15). Heavy traffic during recce made it hard for them to get accurate information. Thierry Neuville explained, “I had such bad traffic here that I was driving 30 kph all the stage.”
Neuville had a positive start to Sunday, closing the gap to Adrien Fourmaux. But disaster struck in the second-to-last stage when he suffered a puncture. He not only lost time but also his sixth place to Ott Tänak, ending a tough weekend for the Belgian.
Sunday also featured a special, nostalgic moment. Organisers brought back the Gran Karting Club of Maspalomas for a short 1.5 km stage, honoring the rally’s history. This track once hosted legends like Kankkunen, Panizzi, and Bertone during the days of the Rally El Corte Inglés. The karting stage was so short that times were extremely close, with many drivers separated by just a few tenths of a second. Adrien Fourmaux was fastest, with Sébastien Ogier and Yohan Rossel matching his time (1:18.4). Takamoto Katsuta and Nikolay Gryazin both did 1:18.7, followed by Tänak, Lindholm, and Evans at 1:18.9. Rovanperä finished 9th just 0.1 seconds behind, and Neuville was 14th with 1:19.6.
The Power Stage, the final stage of the rally, was all about pushing hard to grab extra points. Once again, the three Toyotas dominated. Rovanperä was fastest, ahead of Ogier and Evans, with Fourmaux and Neuville also scoring points.
Final Results
Without any big surprises, the 49th edition of Rally Islas Canarias ended with a clear result:
- 🥇 Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen – 2:54:39.8
- 🥈 Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais – 2:55:33.3
- 🥉 Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin – 2:55:56.9
Rovanperä was dominant, winning 15 out of the 18 stages. After the rally, he said, “It has not been the best start of the season but we are definitely – in this kind of condition – back now.”
In WRC2, the results were also clear:
- 🥇 Yohan Rossel / Arnaud Dunand – 3:01:50.5
- 🥈 Alejandro Cachón / Borja Rozada – 3:02:20.0
- 🥉 Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrow – 3:02:38.2
Rossel claimed his second WRC2 win of the year after winning in Monte-Carlo. He said, “Alejandro and his co-driver pushed me a lot. I didn’t know if I could fight for the win when I arrived, but the car could for sure!”
It was also a big moment for Alejandro Cachón, who celebrated his first WRC2 podium.
Overall Championship Standings after Islas Canarias (rd.4)
