Lappi will start the World Rally Championship season somewhat unexpectedly, as he had already given up on his dream and focused last year on family life, while competing in the Finnish Rally Championship. The same was the plan for the 2026 season as well, until one phone call from Hyundai’s WRC team headquarters changed everything.
The driver from Pieksämäki will share Hyundai’s third Rally1 car this season with two other veterans. In addition to Lappi, driving duties will be shared by Spaniard Dani Sordo and New Zealander Hayden Paddon.
The role of the third driver at Hyundai is clear. The task is to fight for the manufacturers’ world championship and to support the individual campaigns of Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux. This means that, as a starting point, rallies must be finished reliably, but preferably with good points as well. Lappi knows that he could also have the speed to fight for victories, but even if there are unfinished matters from previous years, unnecessary risks cannot be taken.
“Well, it’s quite clear that even if I have some unfinished business, it doesn’t mean that I’ll necessarily try to win the rally outright and fight tooth and nail for the victory. A good result can mean many other things as well,” Lappi told RallyJournal.com.
“We were hired to do teamwork and to be that support and safety net. Hopefully, or if necessary, the idea is also to perform properly – we weren’t asked to go there just to drive quietly. That’s simply a fact. Everyone knows that.”
By this, Lappi means that when Neuville and Fourmaux are ahead, he cannot realistically go for the win. Conditions have to be favourable in every respect for a victory to even be possible for the Finnish driver. That did happen a couple of years ago on the snowy roads of Sweden.
“Winning is still allowed, it’s not forbidden as such. But there are certain parameters, of course. It probably depends on many things how it plays out and who is behind.”
In Sweden next month, Lappi once again has a good starting position to chase victory, but as mentioned, other factors also need to fall into place.
“At the moment, that might be quite a distant thought. If conditions are normal, you would think that at least the road position in Sweden should be reasonably good. Still, we’re not expecting miracles,” Lappi sums up.
“It might take a few stages to find the rhythm again of driving on the limit. A year has gone by without really driving at the limit, so I’ll probably need a bit of time to rediscover that feeling.”
