Hyundai rally star Lappi is warming up this weekend in a national series competition in Lithuania. Having been out of the rally car for over three months, Lithuania provides him the perfect opportunity to fine-tune his speed and setup ahead of next week’s WRC rally in Latvia.
On Friday, Lappi had a separate shakedown from the other drivers, allowing him to focus on tweaking the settings of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car. The real special stages began later in the evening.
Friday saw a total of five short special stages, where Lappi naturally set the fastest times. He now leads the rally by 42.5 seconds over Lithuanian driver Vaidotas Zala, who is competing in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car.
Lappi put on a spectacular show for the Lithuanian spectators on Friday’s stages, kicking up gravel on the fast special stages.
Check out the video below to see Lappi’s performance on Friday.
Video: Vilius Šaltenis
The Lietuva Rally continues on Saturday with eight more special stages and a total of 76 competitive kilometres. Lappi hopes these stages will provide excellent preparation for the Rally Latvia.
“It’s really great to have the opportunity to compete in a rally beforehand. Last year, we drove in Kuopio (a round of Finnish Rally Championship) before Rally Sweden, and it was clear that it made a big difference. And now, with a long break and no test days, this is more than important,” Lappi told RallyJournal.com.
“We’re aiming to get the setup right and hopefully drive very fast next week.”
