Heading into the second round of the Finnish Rally Championship, the general expectation was that Lappi would dominate the field at the Arctic event. However, as he himself pointed out beforehand, while he should have been the favourite on paper, rallying is full of variables – nothing is ever guaranteed.
This time, an extra factor stood in Lappi’s way – 18-year-old Kauppinen. The young driver, who has been heavily invested in rallying for several years, secured a stunning victory and became the youngest-ever winner of the event.
Kauppinen took the rally lead on Friday. The young sensation had a small advantage over Lappi on Saturday morning, but then Lappi, who returned from the WRC to the Finnish championship, made a mistake. That settled the SM1 class victory in favour of the young driver from Laukaa.
Despite the loss, Lappi wasn’t too disheartened.
“The weekend was really enjoyable. The fight for victory ended at that junction where I braked too late,” Lappi said, referring to his mistake on the Sarriojärvi stage.
“But even after that, I had a great time. The final stage was particularly interesting, as the conditions changed drastically. That created a real challenge for everyone,” he reflected.
Kauppinen has been working relentlessly to climb to the top of the Finnish rally scene. Competing in only his second event in the SM1 category with a Toyota Rally2 car, he proved himself against tough opposition.
His ultimate goal? A seat in the World Rally Championship as soon as possible. And if he continues producing performances like this, a place on the international stage seems inevitable.
“Tuukka drove really well. You have to take your hat off to him for being able to drive mistake-free at that pace. That bodes well for his future,” Lappi said in praise.
Lappi and Kauppinen will go head-to-head again in just over a month at the Savonlinna Rally.
“We’ll try to challenge him again in Savonlinna. Hopefully, we’ll get at least one day of testing before then and find faster setups for the car. Let’s see if we can put up a better fight against Tuukka and the other drivers there,” Lappi said.
