Lappi still hasn’t found the top pace, but the changes made to the car overnight have worked, and the Finn has once again been able to enjoy driving.
“It has improved since the morning. We’ll try to go even further in the same direction this afternoon, based on the changes made to the car last night. We’ll see if we can find anything better or if this is the limit. Then we’ll decide what to choose for tomorrow”, Lappi summarised.
Lappi’s Friday was a struggle from start to finish. Now, however, the smile has returned to the Finn’s face.
“Now it’s fun and enjoyable again! Yesterday was complete crap all the time. Now the car works, and I can trust it. The car turns well now, and I can enter corners the way they should be taken. Now I can get out of the corners. Yesterday, it felt like I couldn’t get out of them at all,” Lappi said.
Before Saturday evening’s loop, Lappi is ninth in the rally. Thierry Neuville, the championship leader ahead of him, has already pulled away, and Ford’s Gregoire Munster is 8.1 seconds behind Lappi. This makes it quite challenging to plan for the rest of the race.
“I don’t know about tomorrow either, what there is to be taken and what will be given. It’s a question mark,” Lappi pondered.
The Rally Finland will be driven in a couple of weeks. Since Lappi can no longer aim for good results in Latvia, the focus must already turn towards Central Finland.
“I think this has to serve Finland in some way. The car settings we used in Lithuania will probably suit Finland, but here we need different settings, and we’ll need different settings for tomorrow as well,” Lappi planned.
Four more special stages are to be driven in the Rally Latvia on Saturday. The competition ends on Sunday.