This was Lappi’s second championship in the SM1 class, the first having come back in 2012 with a Ford Fiesta S2000 before the Pieksämäki-born driver moved on to bigger stages for over a decade. For Mälkönen, this was her first Finnish Championship title.
The rally began on Friday evening with three special stages, after which the competitors moved into the overnight halt. Lappi started the event in fourth place, but on Saturday’s opening stage he set the fastest time, which lifted the Škoda driver into the lead. He never surrendered that position again, charging on to a convincing fifth consecutive rally win.
The victory, however, was far from easy, as Estonian driver Patrick Enok fell short of Lappi by only 5.9 seconds.
“The car stalled on the final stage, it just wouldn’t start. The same thing happened already on stage eight, when it stalled under braking at a junction and didn’t restart. That has never happened before. I don’t know whether the “anti-stall” system isn’t working or what the issue is”, Lappi sighed at the finish line of the last stage in an interview with FlyingFinn.tv.
“Luckily it didn’t affect the overall result too much.”
Enok was the sensation of the rally, as he was contesting only his second event in a Rally2 car and his first ever in Finland. Having already secured the SM2 class title earlier, Enok received high praise from the former WRC driver.
“It’s quite a statement from him to just jump straight into a Rally2 car like that and immediately go at such pace. It’s a strong performance and a remarkable display. I know Patrick doesn’t have much in the way of sponsorship, but hopefully this will help him secure backing for next year. A very talented driver,” said Lappi.
Lappi and Mälkönen had been beaten by Tuukka Kauppinen at the Arctic Rally, but once they got the newer version of the Škoda, no-one could stop them. The pair drove to five consecutive victories and clinched the Finnish title with a clear margin ahead of Kauppinen and Teemu Asunmaa.
Lappi’s wish is to continue in the Finnish Championship also next season.
“I’ve already asked Enni if she’d join me again next season if I get the chance to drive. At first, she only said: “Thanks for letting me know,” Lappi chuckled.
“But that was a few weeks ago, and today when we spoke about it, she claimed she hadn’t said that at all. I don’t even know if we will drive next season. I’ve enjoyed rallying this year more than I have in many years, so we’ll definitely work hard to get back to the start line next season.”
Lappi feels he can serve as a good benchmark for younger drivers in the Finnish Championship.
“It’s pretty cool to try to be that sort of benchmark. Surely if someone can beat me properly, then they are ready for bigger stages. Their pace should be good enough to compete there too,” Lappi explained.
“I didn’t have any precise plan for the season, but basically, if you come from the World Championship into the Finnish Championship, you should be able to do well. After the car change it felt quite easy, and I didn’t have to push to the absolute limit.”
The pace of Lappi and Mälkönen seemed to improve as the season progressed, and Lappi himself admitted as much. As their co-operation developed and the car’s set-up improved, the result was a string of five victories.
“Of course, there are many factors in the background. We managed to improve the car in the spring, and also our co-operation with Enni developed, since the Arctic Rally was our first event together. In some rallies we also had an advantage with the tyre brand,” Lappi summed up.
