Esapekka Lappi is a winner again in the FIA World Rally Championship on the back of a controlled but fine fast-paced display of ice and snow driving aboard his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.
His Rally Sweden victory, alongside
co-driver and fellow Finn Janne Ferm, came six years, six months and 19 days
since he won in the WRC for the first time on Rally Finland in 2017.
The 33-year-old breaks the record for the
longest gap between WRC wins, which stood at five years and 359 days and was
jointly held by Shekhar Mehta and Jean-Luc Therier.
Lappi is the fifth Hyundai-powered driver
to win a WRC round, a result that gives the manufacturer its 29th triumph in
the world championship on an event when Toyota and M-Sport Ford also finished
on the podium.
“It feels really good,” Lappi said. “I’ve
been hunting for this second victory for quite a while. I would like to say a
million things but probably I’ll forget many of them. But many thanks to Cyril [Abiteboul,
Hyundai Motorsport president and team principal], he kept me in the team after
a very bad second half last year. It’s quite a massive contrast from that
moment until now. So thanks to the team. And my family as well.”
Lappi started Rally Sweden’s deciding leg
of three stages this morning (Sunday) leading by 1min 06.3sec and with 18 WRC
points banked for topping the order at the end of Saturday’s running. While his
rivals deployed full-attack mode, Lappi kept a cool, calm head to reach the
finish unscathed and with his lead intact.
Although it meant his winning margin was
trimmed to 29.6sec, victory was all that mattered for Lappi, who is embarking
on a partial campaign for the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team in 2024.
Behind Lappi, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans snatched
second from Adrien Fourmaux when the Frenchman lost time striking a snowbank on
Sunday’s first test. But the M-Sport Ford Puma driver didn’t let that moment
knock him off his stride as he raced to his maiden WRC podium in third.
“It’s really, really good for us to be on
the podium, after coming back to Rally1,” said Fourmaux. “It’s been two really
hard years but we never gave up and to be on the podium in Sweden is really
special. Honestly, I have no words, it's just so nice.”
Despite
sliding his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid into a snowbank at high speed on
SS17, Evans topped the Super Sunday classification to bag seven world
championship points to add to the 13 he scored on Saturday under new rules for
2024. The Welshman, who also took four points on the Wolf Power Stage for an
event total of 24, is now three points adrift of Thierry Neuville in the race
to win the 2024 WRC title.
But
he could have been two points behind Neuville had he not slid into another
snowbank nearing the finish of the Wolf Power Stage, a moment that denied him
the fastest time – and five bonus points – by 0.039sec.
“We
lost it all in the last couple of corners – not so good,” Evans said. “Anyway,
overall I guess we can be relatively happy with this result after what happened
on Friday, but there are still areas to work on.”
Neuville,
the winner of Rallye Monte-Carlo last month, fought back from fuel pressure
issues and a few set-up gripes to finish fourth, but with the rear of his
Hyundai sporting significant cosmetic damage following a heavy Wolf Power Stage
landing. While the Belgian’s title lead has been cut from six to three points,
his efforts helped Hyundai draw level with Toyota at the top of the FIA World
Rally Championship for Manufacturers after two rounds.
Oliver
Solberg won WRC2 in Sweden for the second year running in fifth followed by
category rivals Sami Pajari, Georg Linnamäe, Roope Korhonen and
Mikko Heikkilä. Italy’s Lorenzo Bertelli, making his second WRC start in as
many years in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1, rounded out the top 10.
World
champion Kalle Rovanperä claimed five points by setting the pace through the
rally-deciding Wolf Power Stage following his Saturday morning restart. Ott
Tänak, who also crashed out on Friday, scored six points via the Super Sunday
classification and his Wolf Power Stage result.
Early rally leader Takamoto Katsuta’s bid
to salvage championship points following his off on Saturday’s first stage
suffered a setback when he spun at high-speed nearing the finish of SS17. The
Japanese Toyota driver came away with three points.
Rally1 rookie Grégoire Munster achieved his
goal of reaching the finish in the second M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Puma
following myriad mishaps during what was a learning-first mission by the
Luxembourg youngster.
The World Rally Championship heads to
Africa next for Safari Rally Kenya, round three of the season, from 27 - 31
March.