After a long career in the World Rally Championship, Lappi opted to contest a full season in the Finnish Rally Championship (FRC) in 2025. It’s a rare move – while many drivers climb from national series to WRC, few return to what’s seen as a “farm league” after competing at the top.
But for Lappi, the decision has worked out perfectly. Even during his WRC years, he spoke about how top-level rallying consumed too much time and took away from precious moments with family. He even emphasised that not even tens of millions of euros could convince him to return to a full-time WRC schedule.
Over the weekend, Lappi claimed a dominant win at the Länsirannikko Rally. Only four stages were pace-noted and the whole event wrapped up quickly. Lappi could simply enjoy the driving – and even go fishing with his son the very next day, as he described it.
Meanwhile, Lappi watched the previous weekend’s WRC round in Portugal with a sense of horror. Friday, in particular, was gruelling. Drivers were up at 5 a.m. and didn’t get back to bed until after midnight.
“The Portugal schedule really was brutal. I didn’t envy the WRC drivers one bit. Not at all,” Lappi told RallyJournal.com with a chuckle.
“I think I even talked about it with someone. I would’ve had zero interest in being there. I don’t miss that world one bit,” he added bluntly.
Lappi feels he made exactly the right decision by returning to national-level rallying. He no longer even keeps an eye out for WRC opportunities, not even for part-time stints.
“This has really been the right choice for me. Whether you want to call it a wind-down phase or whatever – it’s been really cool,” Lappi confirmed.
Lappi made his WRC debut in the early 2010s and eventually scored two overall victories. His first came in Finland in 2017 and – most likely his last – was in Sweden in February 2024. They’re impressive achievements, but now Lappi is focused on simply having fun in the sport and, above all, enjoying everyday life with his family.
