The Finn produced one of the drives of his WRC career as he became locked in an intense fight for victory with Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier for 14 of the 19 gravel stages, held in challenging weather conditions.
Lappi ended Friday with a 0.1-second lead over the eight-time world champion only to fall 18.2s behind at the end of Saturday morning.
However, Lappi applied pressure to close to within 4.3s of Ogier, who lost time to a damaged radiator incurred in a water splash on Saturday afternoon.
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In Saturday’s penultimate stage Ogier crashed out of the lead in the wet conditions, which appeared to hand the one-time WRC rally winner an opportunity. Lappi was informed of the accident ahead of him on the road by his team and therefore backed off.
However, in doing so team-mate Neuville, who was further into the stage, was unaware of the Ogier’s crash and as a result leapfrogged Lappi into a comfortable 23.8s lead, which ballooned to 36.4s by the end of the day.
“It was a very important result for our team we wanted to push for the victory and we got a 1-2," Lappi told Autosport.
“I feel maybe a bit less [frustrated] than yesterday but still there is something that I’m missing. I had a big chance for it [the victory] so it is frustrating when you can’t really fight for it.
“I’m not saying I would have taken its but at least it would be nice to fight for it to the end.”
Source: Autosport