Esapekka Lappi (born 17 January 1991) is a Finnish

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver. He is the 2012 Finnish Rally Champion, 2014 European Rally Champion and the 2016 WRC-2 Champion.

Career

2012

Lappi won the 2012

Finnish Rally Championship The Finnish Rally Championship is the national rally championship in Finland. The series currently has four classes; Super4 (including R5, S2000 and old WRC cars), Production4 (including Group N cars), R2 (including R2 and R1 cars) and Super2 (in ...

with

Ford Fiesta S2000 The Ford Fiesta S2000 is a Super 2000 rally car built by M-Sport. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car. It made its racing debut at the 78th Rallye Monte Carlo in 2010, with factory team M-Sport and drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Julien Maur ...

winning all the 7 rounds of the championship with his co-driver Janne Ferm. In October, Lappi was signed by

Škoda Motorsport Škoda Motorsport is the division of Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto responsible for motorsport activities. The team had competed as a manufacturer in the World Rally Championship between 1999 and 2005 and Intercontinental Rally Challenge (be ...

. Lappi won his first rally with the team in 2012 Rally Poland which was part of

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champions ...

, driving a

Škoda Fabia S2000 The Škoda Fabia S2000 is a Super 2000 rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car. History It made its début at Rallye Monte Carlo 2009, with factory team Škoda Motorsport and drivers Jan Kopecký and ...

Škoda Motorsport (2013–2016)

In 2013, Lappi competed full season in

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S20 ...

with Team MRF's Škoda Fabia S2000, and selected events in both

WRC-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and ERC with Škoda Motorsport. In APRC, Lappi won three out of six events and finished the season runner-up to his team-mate

Gaurav Gill Gaurav Gill is a professional rally driver and an Indian motorsports athlete who competes in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. In 2013, Gaurav Gill became the first Indian driver to win the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pac ...

. In ERC, Lappi competed in three tarmac rallies, winning the last of them

Rallye International du Valais The Rallye International du Valais is a yearly rally in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It was founded by Philippe Simonetta, a local wine dealer in 1960. Since 1980 it has been part of the European Rally Championship and in 2007 and 2008 it ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He finished the season fifth in the final standings. In WRC-2, he also raced in three rallies, winning

Rally de Portugal The Rally de Portugal (formerly: Rallye de Portugal) is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Champi ...

where he also scored his maiden

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WTEM, a radio station (980 AM) l ...

-point finishing 10th overall. Lappi won the 2014 European Rally Championship title with victories in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

. Lappi continued competing with

driving their new challenger Fabia R5 in WRC-2 championship. He scored two wins in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on his way to finish the season in third place behind

Nasser Al-Attiyah Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( ar, ناصر صالح ناصر عبدالله العطية : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabdullāh al-ʿaṭṭīyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was ...

and

Yuriy Protasov Yuriy Protasov ( uk, Юрій Протасов, born April 23, 1984, in the Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a rally driver from Ukraine. He won the Ukrainian Rally Championship in 2008. In 2011, Protasov contested in the Production World Rally ...

. Lappi also scored his career-best WRC result finishing eighth in Rally Finland. He won the

2016 World Rally Championship-2 The 2016 FIA World Rally Championship-2 was the fourth season of the World Rally Championship-2, an auto racing championship recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, ran in support of the World Rally Championship. It was ...

with the

Škoda Fabia R5 The Škoda Fabia R5 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car and is built to R5 regulations. It made its competition début in 2015 as a successor to the Škoda Fabia S2000. The car proved to be very ...

after winning in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Toyota (2017–2018)

Esapekka Lappi Rally Finland 2017 Saalahti

Lappi was signed by

Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Gazoo Racing (or Toyota GR/TGR) is a motorsport/performance brand of the Japanese automaker Toyota. Many divisions in various racing disciplines use the branding, including Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Toyota's World Rally Championship te ...

to drive a

Toyota Yaris WRC The Toyota Yaris WRC is a World Rally Car designed by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT to compete in the World Rally Championship. The car is based on the Vitz-based XP130 Toyota Yaris, and is the first car Toyota have competed with in the WRC since wit ...

in the 2017 World Rally Championship. On his second event with the team, the

2017 Rally d'Italia The 2017 Rally Italia Sardegna was the seventh round of the 2017 World Rally Championship and was the 14th running of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna. It was won by Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja which was their first win in the WRC. Jari-M ...

, he won his first ever stage in the WRC, along with five more stage wins. He eventually finished fourth. In just his fourth

World Rally Car A World Rally Car is a racing automobile built to the specific regulations set by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and designed for competition in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The cars were introduced in 1997 as a repl ...

start, at his home event of Rally Finland, Lappi took his first WRC victory. In October 2018, Toyota announced that Lappi would leave the team at the end of the 2018 championship.

Citroën (2019)

He joined

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

for the 2019 season, partnering with multiple champion

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champions ...

. With the

Citroën C3 WRC The Citroën C3 WRC is a rally car designed and developed by the Citroën World Rally Team to compete in the World Rally Championship. The car, which is a replacement for the successful Citroën DS3 WRC, is based on the Citroën C3. The C3 WRC ma ...

, Lappi finished the season in tenth place after a difficult year with many retirements. He scored three podiums for the French team, by finishing second in Sweden, Finland and Turkey. After the season, Citroën announced they would depart from the World Rally Championship in 2020 after Ogier moved to Lappi's old team, Toyota, leaving Lappi to find a seat elsewhere.

M-Sport (2020)

After Citroën's exit in 2019, Lappi signed for

M-Sport M-Sport is an auto racing team and motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1979 by the World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as ...

to drive the whole season in a

Ford Fiesta WRC The Ford Fiesta WRC is a World Rally Car built by the M-Sport World Rally Team for use in the World Rally Championship starting in 2017. It is based upon the 2017 Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which competed between ...

alongside his compatriot

Teemu Suninen Teemu Suninen (born February 1, 1994) is a Finnish rally driver. Suninen was driving for Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport WRT in WRC between 2017 and 2021. His manager is Timo Jouhki. Rally career Suninen won the WRC-3 class in the 2014 Rally Finl ...

Movisport and RTE-Motorsport WRC 2 (2021)

In 2021, Lappi drove a Volkswagen Polo GTI for Movistar (rounds 2, 4) and a Toyota Yaris WRC for RTE-Motorsport (round 10) in the WRC 2 championship alongside longtime co-driver

Janne Ferm Janne Ferm (born 29 August 1980) is a Finnish rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Esapekka Lappi and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the World Rally Championship. Rally career Janne Ferm began his rally career in 2007, ...

. Of the three rounds he entered, Lappi won two and finished fourth in the third, ending the season in 12th place on points.

Toyota (2022)

Lappi returned to Toyota Gazoo Racing for the 2022 season in the new hydrid

Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 is a Rally1 car built by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT that has been driven in the World Rally Championship since . The prototype car is based on the GR Yaris production car. The car won the Autosport Awards The Autosport Awa ...

, joining drivers

Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As t ...

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Wales, Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin (co-driver), Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Care ...

, and

Takamoto Katsuta Takamoto Katsuta (勝田貴元, ''Katsuta Takamoto'', born 17 March 1993) is a Japanese rally driver. He currently rallies for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG in the World Rally Championship. He rose to prominence after taking a surprise victor ...

. With co-driver

, Lappi shares the third Toyota car with

and his co-driver

Benjamin Veillas Benjamin Veillas (born 26 February 1983) is a French rally co-driver competing on a part-time basis with Sébastien Ogier for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the FIA World Rally Championship. Biography Veillas started his co-driver career in 1997, a ...

WRC victories

Career results

WRC results

* Season still in progress.

SWRC results

WRC-2 results

* Season still in progress.

ERC results

APRC results

Personal life

Lappi is gluten intolerant. The Citroën service park chef prepares gluten-free dishes for him. One of his sponsors is ''Moilas'', a Finnish producer of gluten-free foods.

References

External links

Official website

Lappi's profile in ewrc-results.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lappi, Esapekka Living people 1991 births Finnish rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers European Rally Championship drivers People from Pieksämäki Sportspeople from South Savo Citroën Racing drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers