Hyundai has announced Esapekka Lappi will pilot the third factory entry at Rally Chile next month.
The Korean manufacturer has decided to cycle through three crews across its third i20 N Rally1 car this season with Lappi, New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and veteran Dani Sordo each enjoying spells behind the wheel.
Lappi was unsure if he would receive another opportunity this year after he and co-driver Enni Malkonen retired from Rally Finland after rolling out of fifth position during stage four of the fast gravel event.
A matter of hours after the rally, Hyundai announced that it would hand the car to Padden for next week’s Rally Paraguay, which will mark the New Zealander’s first gravel outing of the season. Hyundai had previously shared the gravel rallies between Sordo and Lappi.
Hyundai has now moved to clarify that Lappi will enjoy at least one more outing this year in Chile from 10-13 September.
“Back in the hot seat Esapekka Lappi and Enni Malkonen return to our line-up for Rally Chile,” read a short post from Hyundai Motorsport on social media.
Esapekka Lappi last entered Rally Finland with Enni Malkonen
Photo by: McKlein Photography / LAT Images via Getty Images
The news arrives just days after Lappi and Malkonen successfully defended their Finnish Rally Championship crown after winning Ralli Kitee last weekend.
“Although this achievement isn’t comparable to winning the World Rally Championship, or necessarily even a WRC round, we never come to these rallies to mess around – we always drive to win. We take it completely seriously,” said Lappi.
“Of course, it’s probably expected that we’ll take care of this championship, but something can always happen, and as you get older, your pace can slow down. But we were still able to give the youngsters a run for their money.”
Lappi has contested Rally Chile on three previous attempts with his best result being a run to sixth while driving for the Citroen factory squad in the inaugural WRC round in the South American nation in 2019.
The Finn has shown pace in Chile for Hyundai in 2023 and 2024 but retired on both occasions.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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