Rovanpera shines in Rally of Croatia rain and fog
The 21-year-old Toyota driver led after the day's eight stages with the Hyundai pair of Thierry Neuville of Belgium and 2019 world champion Ott Tanak of Estonia just behind.
Rovanpera, who won last time out in Sweden, opened the day's action and swept to victory in six stages.
"Really tough conditions. Even more foggy than during the morning and there was a few kms of full fog," he tweeted.
"I just tried keep my pace and make no mistakes. We had to have the heater on for mist so it's quite hot in the car!"
Nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, who won the season opener in Monte Carlo in January, and defending world champion Sebastien Ogier, prepating for the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, are not running in Croatia this weekend.
Standings after first day:
1. Kalle Rovanpera-Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) 1h 15:35.5, 2. Thierry Neuville-Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) at 1:04.0, 3. Ott Tanak-Martin Jarveoja (EST/Hyundai) 1:23.3, 4. Craig Breen-Paul Nagle (IRL/M-Sport Ford) 1:35.2, 5. Oliver Solberg-Elliot Edmondson (SWE-GBR/Hyundai) 2:38.5, 6. Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) 2:49.1
Stage winners: Rovanpera (SS1, SS2, SS4, SS5, SS6, SS7), Evans (SS3), Neuville (SS8)