Finnish driving prodigy Esapekka Lappi has secured an incredible maiden victory in the FIA World Rally Championship on his home event home, Neste Rally Finland.
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Driving a World Rally Car at the elite level for only the fourth time, the 26-year-old and co-driver Janne Ferm provided their Finnish-based Toyota Gazoo team with a sweet home victory in front of tens of thousands of wildly-cheering countrymen.
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Lappi spent much of the four-day rally battling his vastly more experienced teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, who was leading on Saturday afternoon when his car’s engine management computer failed, forcing him to retire for the day and dashing hopes of a fourth Neste Rally Finland win.
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This gave Lappi a comfortable advantage, although there was still a scare on the final morning when he damaged a wheel on the penultimate stage. However, he was able to replace it and reach the finish with a winning margin of 36 seconds.
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"Amazing, amazing", said Lappi, who follows in the tracks of generations of Flying Finns in the rally world..
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"What a rally. I have to really say a big thanks to the team and to Tommi (Mäkinen, team manager). They built such a fast car in such a short time. I have big, big respect for them."
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Lappi will be one of the stars when the WRC closes its season at Kennards Hire Rally Australia on the NSW Coffs Coast on 16-19 November. He clinched the WRC2 support championship at last year’s event.
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Teemu Suninen had been on course to make it a one-two finish for Finland's WRC rookies, but a high-speed spin one stage from the end dropped him to fourth.
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Nonetheless, it was a hugely impressive performance from Suninen in only his second start at the highest level.
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His mistake came during a tight battle for second with another Finn, Lappi’s teammate Juho Hänninen, and Welshman Elfyn Evans.
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The final morning began with Hänninen moving level with Suninen on the first stage, Lempää, only for him to fall behind Evans on the first pass of Oittila.
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On the repeat of Lempää, Hänninen fought back with the joint fastest time to climb to second, only for Evans to get back ahead on the final stage.
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Hänninen settled for third and his first podium, ensuring a double celebration for Toyota.
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Craig Breen finished fifth for Citroën ahead of Thierry Neuville, who struggled for pace all weekend in his Hyundai.
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With bonus points earned for third place on the rally-ending Power Stage, Neuville moved to equal-first with Sébastien Ogier in the drivers’ championship standings.
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Ogier crashed on Friday morning and was unable to restart due to concussion suffered by his co-driver Julien Ingrassia.
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Ott Tänak, who lost time to a puncture on Friday, finished seventh in front of Kris Meeke, Dani Sordo and Mads Østberg.
Note: Full Martin Holmes Rally Finland report to follow.
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Provisional overall top 10 results:
1 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2h29m26.9s
2 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +36s
3 Juho Hänninen/Kaj Lindström (Toyota Yaris WRC) +36.3s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m01.5s
5 Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroen C3 WRC) +1m22.6s
6 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m33.1s
7 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m53.6s
8 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen C3 WRC) +3m12.6s
9 Dani Sordo/Marc Martà (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +4m11.5s
10 Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +4m21.2s
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FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after Rd 9):
1 T. Neuville 160
2 S. Ogier 160
3 O. Tanak 119
4 J.M Latvala 114
5 D. Sordo 84
6 E. Evans 79
7 C. Breen 53
8 H. Paddon 51
9 J. Hänninen 46
10 E. Lappi 45
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after Rd 9):
1 M-Sport World Rally Team 285
2 Hyundai Motorsport 251
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 193
4 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 135