Can Lappi Return to the Winning Podium of WRC?

When Lappi came to the realm of WRC, everyone had high hopes for the rider. After he debuted in 2017 with Toyota in WRC, he won one of the toughest rallies, Rally Finland in his fourth start. And that win is the only victory Lappi managed to bag to this day.

Lappi’s career was dismantled by when he decided to shift to Citroën in 2019. Later Citroën pulled itself out from WRC, and then Lappi was forced to shift to the Ford M-Sport team. And mind you, both of the teams have failed to deliver any victories so far.

In 2021, Lappi regressed, competing in just three WRC events, winning two of them (Arctic Rally Finland and Rally Portugal) in WRC2, and placing a respectable fourth overall in Rally Finland while driving a rented Toyota Yaris WRC.

He was invited back to the Toyota factory team in 2022, but as a part-time driver to cover for Sébastien Ogier in the races he wouldn’t be competing in. The performance was sufficient to earn him that opportunity.

Lappi will make his seventh start of the season—out of a possible 10—at the Acropolis Rally Greece next week. He has already won podiums in Sweden, Finland, and Belgium and led in Italy.