The WRC 2021 Drivers’ World Championship has reopened thanks to the resounding victory of Elfyn Evans and the penultimate round of the season is just 10 days away, but the drivers market for 2022 is in full swing.
The future of some riders has taken a well-defined direction, even if the long-awaited official status from their respective teams is missing. Two of these are Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi.
The Northern Irish driver of Hyundai Motorsport has just returned from a good third place at the Rally of Finland – for another third podium of the season – and has the ambition to return to racing full time, as a starting driver, starting next season.
“It seems that the situation is now quite positive. I would say that we will be at the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo. In a few days we will let you know what the future holds. It will be exciting times,” said Breen, confirming the fact that he was able to find a seat that it will be able to keep for the entire season in 2022.
“It has taken 30 years, but it seems like everything is starting to go right. I honestly think it’s a matter of being in the car often and giving consistency to our schedule. That’s what we’ve been missing since Paul and I ( Nagle, his co-driver, ed) we are back to racing after the years in Citroen Racing. We had a very discontinuous period “.
“I’ve been feeling comfortable lately. Now I know the function of all the controls. It all seems natural to me. Last year, on the other hand, I was racing a lot with the R5 and it didn’t seem normal at all, to be honest.” .
It remains to be seen where Breen will run. Should he remain in Hyundai, Sordo and Solberg may not have space in the line up to which the new i20 N Rally1 will be entrusted. If he were to join Ford M-Sport, Breen would become teammate of Adrien Fourmaux and would race with the Ford Puma Rally1, leaving Hyundai Motorsport after a couple of years as a part-time driver but fundamental in winning the 2020 Constructors’ world title. .
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC
For a Breen who found a starting seat in 2022, in Esapekka Lappi, who is about to return to the Toyota Racing team. The fourth place obtained at the Rally of Finland showed how much the Finn has what it takes to aspire to get back a seat in the WRC after a past 2021 waiting to find a position for the following year.
At the end of the third to last round of the 2021 WRC, Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made no secret of the fact that the 31-year-old is the deserving driver to take over from Sébastien Ogier starting next season.
“He did the performance we wanted. In my opinion he did enough to be in the driver line up for 2022,” the manager told Dirtfish. The decision, however, will be made by Toyota’s top management in the coming days and will be made official shortly after.
“We said it would be enough to see him in the Top 5 in Finland. Instead he finished fourth overall and did a great Power Stage. For me he did the performance we wanted and that’s enough to put him in our 2022 line up.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2022 line up will be composed of Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Sébastien Ogier (part time) and Esapekka Lappi who will race in the Frenchman’s car when the 7-time world champion will not be deployed. Lappi himself confirmed that the contract is practically done. Only a few details are missing.
“Toyota wanted to analyze my performance. The contract is pretty close to being signed.” This is also the result of the change in management of the team, with Tommi Makinen leaving the baton to Jari-Matti Latvala at the beginning of the year. With the former WRC world champion, Lappi could hardly have returned after leaving Toyota in 2019 to join Citroen Racing. The good relationship with Latvala, on the other hand, has reopened a road that seemed closed.
The WRC 2021 Drivers’ World Championship has reopened thanks to the resounding victory of Elfyn Evans and the penultimate round of the season is just 10 days away, but the drivers market for 2022 is in full swing.
The future of some riders has taken a well-defined direction, even if the long-awaited official status from their respective teams is missing. Two of these are Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi.
The Northern Irish driver of Hyundai Motorsport has just returned from a good third place at the Rally of Finland – for another third podium of the season – and has the ambition to return to racing full time, as a starting driver, starting next season.
“It seems that the situation is now quite positive. I would say that we will be at the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo. In a few days we will let you know what the future holds. It will be exciting times,” said Breen, confirming the fact that he was able to find a seat that it will be able to keep for the entire season in 2022.
“It has taken 30 years, but it seems like everything is starting to go right. I honestly think it’s a matter of being in the car often and giving consistency to our schedule. That’s what we’ve been missing since Paul and I ( Nagle, his co-driver, ed) we are back to racing after the years in Citroen Racing. We had a very discontinuous period “.
“I’ve been feeling comfortable lately. Now I know the function of all the controls. It all seems natural to me. Last year, on the other hand, I was racing a lot with the R5 and it didn’t seem normal at all, to be honest.” .
It remains to be seen where Breen will run. Should he remain in Hyundai, Sordo and Solberg may not have space in the line up to which the new i20 N Rally1 will be entrusted. If he were to join Ford M-Sport, Breen would become teammate of Adrien Fourmaux and would race with the Ford Puma Rally1, leaving Hyundai Motorsport after a couple of years as a part-time driver but fundamental in winning the 2020 Constructors’ world title. .
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC
For a Breen who found a starting seat in 2022, in Esapekka Lappi, who is about to return to the Toyota Racing team. The fourth place obtained at the Rally of Finland showed how much the Finn has what it takes to aspire to get back a seat in the WRC after a past 2021 waiting to find a position for the following year.
At the end of the third to last round of the 2021 WRC, Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made no secret of the fact that the 31-year-old is the deserving driver to take over from Sébastien Ogier starting next season.
“He did the performance we wanted. In my opinion he did enough to be in the driver line up for 2022,” the manager told Dirtfish. The decision, however, will be made by Toyota’s top management in the coming days and will be made official shortly after.
“We said it would be enough to see him in the Top 5 in Finland. Instead he finished fourth overall and did a great Power Stage. For me he did the performance we wanted and that’s enough to put him in our 2022 line up.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2022 line up will be composed of Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Sébastien Ogier (part time) and Esapekka Lappi who will race in the Frenchman’s car when the 7-time world champion will not be deployed. Lappi himself confirmed that the contract is practically done. Only a few details are missing.
“Toyota wanted to analyze my performance. The contract is pretty close to being signed.” This is also the result of the change in management of the team, with Tommi Makinen leaving the baton to Jari-Matti Latvala at the beginning of the year. With the former WRC world champion, Lappi could hardly have returned after leaving Toyota in 2019 to join Citroen Racing. The good relationship with Latvala, on the other hand, has reopened a road that seemed closed.
The WRC 2021 Drivers’ World Championship has reopened thanks to the resounding victory of Elfyn Evans and the penultimate round of the season is just 10 days away, but the drivers market for 2022 is in full swing.
The future of some riders has taken a well-defined direction, even if the long-awaited official status from their respective teams is missing. Two of these are Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi.
The Northern Irish driver of Hyundai Motorsport has just returned from a good third place at the Rally of Finland – for another third podium of the season – and has the ambition to return to racing full time, as a starting driver, starting next season.
“It seems that the situation is now quite positive. I would say that we will be at the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo. In a few days we will let you know what the future holds. It will be exciting times,” said Breen, confirming the fact that he was able to find a seat that it will be able to keep for the entire season in 2022.
“It has taken 30 years, but it seems like everything is starting to go right. I honestly think it’s a matter of being in the car often and giving consistency to our schedule. That’s what we’ve been missing since Paul and I ( Nagle, his co-driver, ed) we are back to racing after the years in Citroen Racing. We had a very discontinuous period “.
“I’ve been feeling comfortable lately. Now I know the function of all the controls. It all seems natural to me. Last year, on the other hand, I was racing a lot with the R5 and it didn’t seem normal at all, to be honest.” .
It remains to be seen where Breen will run. Should he remain in Hyundai, Sordo and Solberg may not have space in the line up to which the new i20 N Rally1 will be entrusted. If he were to join Ford M-Sport, Breen would become teammate of Adrien Fourmaux and would race with the Ford Puma Rally1, leaving Hyundai Motorsport after a couple of years as a part-time driver but fundamental in winning the 2020 Constructors’ world title. .
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC
For a Breen who found a starting seat in 2022, in Esapekka Lappi, who is about to return to the Toyota Racing team. The fourth place obtained at the Rally of Finland showed how much the Finn has what it takes to aspire to get back a seat in the WRC after a past 2021 waiting to find a position for the following year.
At the end of the third to last round of the 2021 WRC, Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made no secret of the fact that the 31-year-old is the deserving driver to take over from Sébastien Ogier starting next season.
“He did the performance we wanted. In my opinion he did enough to be in the driver line up for 2022,” the manager told Dirtfish. The decision, however, will be made by Toyota’s top management in the coming days and will be made official shortly after.
“We said it would be enough to see him in the Top 5 in Finland. Instead he finished fourth overall and did a great Power Stage. For me he did the performance we wanted and that’s enough to put him in our 2022 line up.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2022 line up will be composed of Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Sébastien Ogier (part time) and Esapekka Lappi who will race in the Frenchman’s car when the 7-time world champion will not be deployed. Lappi himself confirmed that the contract is practically done. Only a few details are missing.
“Toyota wanted to analyze my performance. The contract is pretty close to being signed.” This is also the result of the change in management of the team, with Tommi Makinen leaving the baton to Jari-Matti Latvala at the beginning of the year. With the former WRC world champion, Lappi could hardly have returned after leaving Toyota in 2019 to join Citroen Racing. The good relationship with Latvala, on the other hand, has reopened a road that seemed closed.
The WRC 2021 Drivers’ World Championship has reopened thanks to the resounding victory of Elfyn Evans and the penultimate round of the season is just 10 days away, but the drivers market for 2022 is in full swing.
The future of some riders has taken a well-defined direction, even if the long-awaited official status from their respective teams is missing. Two of these are Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi.
The Northern Irish driver of Hyundai Motorsport has just returned from a good third place at the Rally of Finland – for another third podium of the season – and has the ambition to return to racing full time, as a starting driver, starting next season.
“It seems that the situation is now quite positive. I would say that we will be at the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo. In a few days we will let you know what the future holds. It will be exciting times,” said Breen, confirming the fact that he was able to find a seat that it will be able to keep for the entire season in 2022.
“It has taken 30 years, but it seems like everything is starting to go right. I honestly think it’s a matter of being in the car often and giving consistency to our schedule. That’s what we’ve been missing since Paul and I ( Nagle, his co-driver, ed) we are back to racing after the years in Citroen Racing. We had a very discontinuous period “.
“I’ve been feeling comfortable lately. Now I know the function of all the controls. It all seems natural to me. Last year, on the other hand, I was racing a lot with the R5 and it didn’t seem normal at all, to be honest.” .
It remains to be seen where Breen will run. Should he remain in Hyundai, Sordo and Solberg may not have space in the line up to which the new i20 N Rally1 will be entrusted. If he were to join Ford M-Sport, Breen would become teammate of Adrien Fourmaux and would race with the Ford Puma Rally1, leaving Hyundai Motorsport after a couple of years as a part-time driver but fundamental in winning the 2020 Constructors’ world title. .
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC
For a Breen who found a starting seat in 2022, in Esapekka Lappi, who is about to return to the Toyota Racing team. The fourth place obtained at the Rally of Finland showed how much the Finn has what it takes to aspire to get back a seat in the WRC after a past 2021 waiting to find a position for the following year.
At the end of the third to last round of the 2021 WRC, Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made no secret of the fact that the 31-year-old is the deserving driver to take over from Sébastien Ogier starting next season.
“He did the performance we wanted. In my opinion he did enough to be in the driver line up for 2022,” the manager told Dirtfish. The decision, however, will be made by Toyota’s top management in the coming days and will be made official shortly after.
“We said it would be enough to see him in the Top 5 in Finland. Instead he finished fourth overall and did a great Power Stage. For me he did the performance we wanted and that’s enough to put him in our 2022 line up.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2022 line up will be composed of Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Sébastien Ogier (part time) and Esapekka Lappi who will race in the Frenchman’s car when the 7-time world champion will not be deployed. Lappi himself confirmed that the contract is practically done. Only a few details are missing.
“Toyota wanted to analyze my performance. The contract is pretty close to being signed.” This is also the result of the change in management of the team, with Tommi Makinen leaving the baton to Jari-Matti Latvala at the beginning of the year. With the former WRC world champion, Lappi could hardly have returned after leaving Toyota in 2019 to join Citroen Racing. The good relationship with Latvala, on the other hand, has reopened a road that seemed closed.