Driving a Škoda Rally2 car, Lappi concluded the winter season on a high in March with a victory at the Savonlinna national rally. Now, Lappi and co-driver Enni Mälkönen will chase another win around the Turku region, as the season resumes with the Länsirannikko Rally.
Last year’s Turku winner, Teemu Asunmaa, is skipping the event, but Lappi is expected to face strong competition – notably from the young Tuukka Kauppinen.
This will be Lappi’s first time competing on the special stages around Turku.
“It’s actually fun to head onto roads that are new to me. Everyone’s been warning that it’s extremely slippery. Of course I’m going for the win – I’m not going there to lose,” Lappi states bluntly.
“Whenever I compete, I want to do well. That’s not something that will ever change – I still have a strong competitive drive. The way I’ve prepared for the Turku rally already shows I’m going in to win.”
The rally gets underway on Friday evening with two asphalt stages, while Saturday features five gravel tests. Lappi has prepared carefully for the rally’s unusual start.
“I’ve had a couple of chances to drive the Škoda on gravel this spring. Last week I tested in Central Finland, and on Monday I tried the Škoda with gravel tyres on asphalt. I wanted to make sure of certain handling characteristics and car setup details on tarmac.”
“On gravel, we’ve again managed to improve the car’s performance. We’ve built new dampers, and we’ll double-check and confirm their settings before recce begins,” Lappi explains.
The Länsirannikko Rally includes seven special stages in total, covering around 100 competitive kilometres.
