Lappi, who drove part-time for Hyundai’s WRC team last season, now appears to be stepping away from the World Rally Championship.
On Monday, Lappi confirmed that he will compete in the Finnish Rally Championship during the 2025 season. The Finnish star will start his campaign next week at the Arctic Lapland Rally.
Lappi will drive a Skoda Fabia Rally2 car, competing in the SM1 class. He will also team up with a new co-driver, Enni Mälkönen, who until the end of last year served as Sami Pajari’s co-driver.
“A couple of weeks ago, I had this wild idea to take part in the Finnish Rally Championship. The more I thought about it, the better it felt,” Lappi said.
“There have been plenty of phone calls over the past couple of weeks, and the end result is that we’ll compete in the championship with the Škoda, and Enni as my co-driver,” Lappi shared in a video posted on social media.
Mälkönen also expressed her gratitude to all the partners who joined their project on such short notice.
“See you at Tunturi (Arctic Lapland Rally),” Mälkönen said excitedly.
The last time Lappi competed regularly in the Finnish Rally Championship was in 2012, when he dominated the series and claimed the national title with his then co-driver, Janne Ferm. After their championship season, Lappi and Ferm transitioned to international competitions.
The duo competed together in the WRC’s top category starting in 2017, achieving two event victories: their first in Finland during the summer of 2017, and their second in Sweden last winter.
Lappi has stated he no longer wishes to drive a full WRC season but was vying for a part-time role with Hyundai this year. So far, Hyundai has confirmed three full-time drivers for this season: Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, and Adrien Fourmaux.
The Arctic Lapland Rally, held around Rovaniemi, begins next Friday, 31 January, and concludes on Saturday, 1 February.
Among the competitors will also be Lappi’s former co-driver Janne Ferm, who will read pace notes for Teemu Asunmaa. Asunmaa and Ferm recently won the Finnish Rally Championship season opener in Kuopio last weekend.
