On Friday and Saturday, Lappi competed at the Arctic Lapland Rally in Škoda Rally2 machinery, where he celebrated a Finnish championship round victory together with his co-driver Enni Mälkönen.
The pair’s victory celebrations were short-lived on Saturday evening in Rovaniemi, as a long test day in Hyundai’s Rally1 car awaited them on Sunday in Kemijärvi.
This year, Lappi will contest all rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship, but he also has driving duties in the World Rally Championship as a part-time driver for Hyundai’s factory team. Lappi and Mälkönen’s WRC campaign will begin next week at Rally Sweden.
The switch from Rally2 machinery to a top-tier car was a noticeable one.
“There is quite a big difference, even if it’s probably not a full second per kilometre. But from inside the car, the difference feels huge. The Rally1 car has attitude and aggression, with more noise and more downforce,” Lappi compared in an interview with RallyJournal.com.
“The Rally1 car almost asks you to drive hard. There’s just a big difference when the engine revs higher and feels good.”
Lappi has been away from the top class of the WRC for almost a year and a half. The last time the Finnish driver competed for WRC points was at Rally Chile in autumn 2024.
Last year, Lappi maintained his sharpness in the Finnish Rally Championship, which he went on to win. For this season, he was offered a part-time drive by Hyundai after the WRC team had to look for replacements following Ott Tänak’s withdrawal from the championship.
Lappi first sampled Hyundai’s updated Rally1 car back in December in central Finland, but conditions during that test were muddy rather than wintry. In Kemijärvi, Lappi was able to complete a proper snow test in harsh sub-zero conditions.
Even Lappi himself was surprised by how well things went from the very start of the test day.
“It somehow felt really easy to jump into the Rally1 car in the morning. I expected it to be more difficult or to take longer to get used to the car. But already on the first run it went really well, and I immediately knew what needed to be changed on the Rally1 car,” Lappi said.
“At least here, it didn’t feel like there were any major challenges. But it’s obviously a different thing when you start competing. Then you have to drive on the limit all the time.”
There was one clear area of focus in Hyundai’s Rally1 car that Lappi worked on during the test day.
“We’ve mainly tried to find overall grip, which in practice means working on the suspension. We’ve tested the differentials a little as well, but most of the focus has been on the suspension,” Lappi explained.
Rally Sweden is scheduled for 12–15 February. Lappi won Rally Sweden in the 2024 season.
