The Finn revealed in the buildup to the rally that he intended to try an experimental set-up he’d discovered in testing prior to the event.
After winning Thursday night’s super special, Lappi started the day with a 0.2s lead over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier. But he ended Friday morning 16.3s behind Ogier, electing for a more hard tyre focused strategy in the morning’s 49.9km Monte Lerno test.
However, in the afternoon Lappi fitted soft tyres which worked perfectly in the wetter conditions. This combined with his suspension set-up call helped the one-time WRC rally winner overhaul Ogier to lead at the end of the day by 0.1s, despite suffering a left-rear puncture in the second pass of Monte Lerno.
Asked if he felt his set-up gamble was paying off, Lappi said: “It looks like it. It is really working especially when it is really rough.
“I don’t know where I pulled that time on the short stage, it wasn’t like crazy driving. It was just clean all of the time. To be that much faster than Seb, I have to say the damper is really working.
“[The Monte Lerno stage] was quite a tricky stage. Most of the stage, the grip was fairly okay but then all of a sudden there was full mud.
“I would say there was 80% okay grip, but there was this other 20%. There was some moments, for sure.
“We had a small sacrifice with the tyres in the morning on the long stage, so now we have gained it back, but we have got to do it all again tomorrow.
“I hope tomorrow will be fully dry as I have more hard tyres and good road position, so I would like full dry weather please.”
Source: Autosport