After a few outings on his national World Rally Championship event Rally Finland, he was hired by SEAT to drive the SEAT Ibiza Kit Car, with which he won SEAT's third consecutive 2L World Rally Championship title in 1998.
В августе 1998 года Рованпера вывел на старт Ралли Финляндии полноприводную турбированную версию SEAT Córdoba категории World Rally Car, пришедшую на смену модели Ibiza.