Lappi drove to victory a couple of weeks ago in the SM season opener in Mikkeli and repeated the feat on the Arctic Circle. This time, the top spot was secured with a margin of 25.2 seconds ahead of the young driver from Laukaa, Tuukka Kauppinen. Lauri Joona finished third in the rally and Mikko Heikkilä fourth.
Last year, Kauppinen caused quite a sensation at the Arctic Rally when he left both Lappi and Kalle Rovanperä, who was driving a Toyota Rally1 car, behind him. Now, Lappi, having switched to a newer Škoda, was able to keep the younger challengers at bay from start to finish.
For Lappi, victory celebrations at the Arctic Rally are familiar, but for co-driver Enni Mälkönen, the reindeer antlers awarded as a prize from the classic rally were the first of her career.
“It feels really good, especially for Enni. She finally got those reindeer antlers she was missing,” Lappi chuckled.
The Arctic Rally is clearly the most demanding of the SM rounds, as two full days of competition and 220 special stage kilometres make it practically the length of a European Championship rally. The other SM events are completed in a single day.
“This is the best and most demanding SM rally in my opinion. It was great that there was strong competition here and more competitors, not just Lauri Joona. That also made it more interesting for me and in a way pushed me to drive at the limit,” Lappi summed up.
“Even the final long stage went well, but I eased off a bit towards the end because it felt like the studs were starting to wear. There were already quite a lot of kilometres in the wheels. We didn’t hit the snowbank once, so maybe we were actually driving a bit too cautiously,” Lappi continued with a laugh.
Lappi will return to the World Rally Championship in a few weeks’ time on the snow of Sweden. Last season, the Pieksämäki native did not contest the WRC rounds, but life, so to speak, took an unexpected turn, and once again this season there will be selected events in Hyundai’s WRC team’s third car. The last time Lappi won in Sweden was in 2024, and now he also has two SM rally victories under his belt, so expectations are likely to be high?
“Let’s calm down a bit now, though. It can be quite a shock, but we’ll try to get through that initial jolt on the first stages. Then, if you can get into your own rhythm, we’ll see how the situation develops over the course of the weekend,” Lappi said.
Rally Sweden will be held on 12–15 February in the Umeå region. Lappi won the rally in 2024.
