Impressive performance on challenging conditions by Esapekka Lappi

Rallye Monte-Carlo got underway on Thursday evening, with two the longest stages of the rally, run in the darkness. Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm ended the opening leg with being the fastest crew in a Toyota Yaris with holding fourth position.

January 29, 2018

Rallye Monte-Carlo got underway on Thursday evening, with two the longest stages of the rally, run in the darkness. Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm ended the opening leg with being the fastest crew in a Toyota Yaris with holding fourth position.

He kept up the good work for the next day, however a mid-stage tyre-change on SS11 saw him drop down on the leaderboard on the Saturday. Esapekka Lappi ended up seventh (less than 15 seconds away from fourth) after a small mistake on the final stage, but can still look back at a strong performance in his first Rallye Monte-Carlo driving a World Rally Car.

– The final day started really well with some good speed and the plan was to keep up the rhythm, including on the Power Stage. Unfortunately, I went wide on one corner and then I couldn’t get reverse, so we lost a lot of time and three positions. At the moment I am quite disappointed but at least I completed every kilometre, gaining experience and learning many things, so there are also a lot of positives. I think my strategy to be careful on this rally is paid off, and we were fighting for a podium. It has been a good rally for the team and Sweden should suit me better.