The first leg of Rally Finland continues to be a haunted one for Hyundai Motorsport, with the Alzenau-based team also losing the second of its three i20 N Rally1 cars on Rally Finland.
Esapekka Lappi was involved in an accident during Special Stage 6, the 17.96-kilometer Laukaa 2, which forced him to retire. While he was in a very narrow section framed by a forest, the Finn lost control of his car due to jolts created by the surface.
This, due to the numerous passages of the cars this morning, has seen two very deep tracks created that the drivers are practically forced to follow. Lappi lost control right there and ended up crashing into two trees.
In the first impact the front right suspension broke, while in the second he lost the front bodywork (part of the bonnet, mask and splitter), but it was the first of the two impacts that forced him to retire.
For Hyundai, this is the second retirement of the day after the one in Special Stage 3 involving Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja. Now Thierry Neuville is left alone to fight against all the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1s fielded by the Japanese manufacturer.
Speaking of the World Championship leader, Neuville, with Lappi’s retirement, has risen to fourth place in the overall standings of the event, thus approaching the podium zone. His pace, at least at the start of the afternoon, is not good enough to hypothesize a recovery during the rest of the day.
If Hyundai is crying, Toyota is still smiling. Kalle Rovanpera won the special and thus extended his lead over the first of his rivals, Elfyn Evans. Now, between the two, in the general classification there is a 4″7 margin in favor of the home driver. Evans nevertheless defended himself from Sébastien Ogier, doing better by just a tenth. The Frenchman, third, is 2″9 from second place.
Worthy of mention is the excellent second time of the special signed by Sami Pajari. The Finnish rookie took advantage of the GR Yaris Rally1 restored by the mechanics in the Service to show a glimpse of his talent.
With Lappi’s retirement, Adrien Fourmaux, who entered the Top 5, Sami Pajari – sixth – and Gregoire Munster, seventh, gained a position. Oliver Solberg, on the other hand, is eighth overall and at the top of the WRC2 with the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of the TokSport team.
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