Winner in Sweden, Esapekka Lappi returns to victory seven years later: “The snow walls were my friends! »

It had been 6 years, 6 months and 19 days – or 2394 days – since Esapekka Lappi had not returned to the top of the podium in WRC. Such a long wait for the Finn who, since his victory in Rally of Finland 2017, had a series of disappointments despite several podiums – 13 in total between his two victories – until today.

In Sweden, all the planets aligned for the pilot Hyundai : favorites quickly go down, capricious but favorable weather and Takamoto Katsuta, his main opponent at the start of the weekend, at fault halfway through. Result: from Saturday afternoon, Esapekka Lappi was able to manage his lead, his tires and his car to reach the finish of this Rally of Sweden as a winner. A second career victory in the premier category which relieves the Finnish driver.

“I feel really good!” I am also very relieved. Of course, this victory will not change my life, but all drivers are here to win. When you achieve it, it's the best feeling, declared the winner of the day, a few minutes after the finish. The track conditions could only slow us down on Friday afternoon... but I think I only attacked on two stages and after that, the situation in the general classification meant that I didn't really need to attack. All pilots know that when you don't attack, it's not so pleasant, but if in the future I see this kind of situation again, then I will accept it! »

Esapekka Lappi would have liked more adversity

After the retirement of Takamoto Katsuta on Saturday during SS10, with whom he was competing by tenths of a second on Friday, Esapekka Lappi had a large lead of more than a minute and thirty seconds in the general classification, and had to ride at walking pace so as not to make any mistakes. If the Finn regrets the lack of suspense at the end of the rally, he recognizes that the exceptional conditions of this Rally of Sweden were not easy to manage.

“It’s always nice to come here. We are close to Finland, the landscapes are very similar and there is always a lot of snow. Wednesday and Friday snowfall made it difficult, but ultimately it was a good rally, confided Esapekka Lappi. There were too many retirements: it could have been even more entertaining if there had been more drivers in contention for victory. »

“Snow walls can sometimes be our friends or our enemies. This weekend, they were my friends! », underlined the Hyundai driver who did not lack humor when it was the turn of his co-driver, Janne Ferm, to speak. “It was the first rally where he wore glasses! And it's the first time I've gotten all the good grades! », he laughed, before his right-hand passenger replied : “Until now, I was always guessing [the grades]! »

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