However, Lappi’s lead could have been greater had he received what he had requested.
Lappi had asked for a time compensation for incidents during the fourth stage. He had to significantly reduce his speed due to his teammate Ott Tänak’s retirement.
In a report sent to the stewards, Lappi’s team, Hyundai, calculated that he lost 3.9 seconds due to slowing down.
“Part of it was because I didn’t know exactly where Ott had made his mistake. I was firstly waiting for that corner, and when I got to his spot, I reduced my speed a lot. It was a fifth-gear corner, but I drove it in third gear to make sure nothing happened,” Lappi explained to RallyJournal.com during the day.
Lappi’s explanation did not lead to the desired decision. The stewards did not grant him any time compensation.
The stewards said they had reviewed the situation from Lappi’s onboard camera and concluded that there was not enough justification for time compensation.
“The Stewards may thus decide that, if they deem the time loss to be significant and do not consider it as a ‘racing incident’, a corrected time can be implemented. However, competitors must moreover be able to prove that it was extraordinary circumstances that led to any perceived time loss. The Stewards consider that the above criteria were not met in the present case,” the stewards justified.
Rally Sweden continues on Saturday with seven special stages.
