Esapekka Lappi has become the latest victim on what has been a rough Friday at Secto Rally Finland. Lappi’s teammate Ott Tänak crashed on SS3 while Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta – who was in a battle with Lappi for fourth place – hit a tree with the rear-right of his car on the final stage before service and was forced to retire on the road section.
Heading into the afternoon, Lappi was comfortably in fourth place and trying to catch up to the three Toyotas ahead that currently occupy the podium positions. However, on the first stage after service, Lappi was caught off guard by an extremely rutted section of the Laukaa track, which Sébastien Ogier had described as unpleasant. Bouncing around in the ruts, Lappi collided with a tree, damaging the rear-right of his i20 N Rally1. This impact then caused another collision with a different tree, ultimately ending Lappi’s rally.
Although Lappi initially continued after the incident, he soon slowed down and parked the car. Co-driver Janne Ferm informed the team, “We went off, we have to retire. Sorry for everybody, we are OK.”
With Lappi out of the race, it is now up to Kalle Rovanperä to represent Finnish pride. On SS6, the world champion performed well and increased his rally lead from 0.2 seconds to 4.7 seconds.
When asked about any adjustments he made during the service to improve his performance, Rovanperä cheekily replied, “Secret ones.”
Earlier in the morning, Sami Pajari had sustained rear damage after hitting a tree on the first pass of the Laukaa stage. However, with his GR Yaris Rally1 repaired, he was much faster on the second pass and finished second-fastest behind Rovanperä.
