Esapekka Lappi took the second WC rally victory of his career.
Esapekka Lappi celebrated a wonderful victory. EPA / AOP
Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi toasted to victory in the World Rally Championship in Sweden.
Lapland won for the second time in his career at the World Cup level. The previous victory came almost seven years ago in Jyväskylä.
On Sunday, Hyundai released a victory celebration video from Lapland and its karter Janne Fermi. In the video, the two sit on the sauna boards with only towels on their hips and open beers to celebrate the victory.
On the top floor of the sauna is the victory trophy of the Swedish rally.
– There is only one way to celebrate a victory, Hyundai wrote alongside the video.
If the embed is not visible on your device, you can watch it from here.
The last time Lapland celebrated the victory of the World Rally Championship was in 2017. The Finn told Iltalehti after the Swedish rally that the mood had eased when the long wait is finally over.
However, he had to secure his victory for a large part of the rally.
– Couldn’t enjoy very many moments in this rally. Friday morning was the only time we tried to ride a bit and then the conditions got so rough. It was such a grind trying to stay on track. There hasn’t been such pleasure here, when (Takamoto) Katsuta’s outing has only been dull, Lappi said.
Lappi fanned wildly when he reached the finish line after the last jump. He didn’t want to remember what thoughts were going through his mind.
– Of course, at least the fact that this is over now and we did what we came here to do. We took points away from Elfyn (Evans) and took full points from yesterday. Our hands are now washed, so to speak. There was a sense of relief and of course winning is what everyone is looking for here. There’s a lot of everything, I can’t really explain, Lappi described his feelings.
The World Cup rally continues in March with the Safari rally.