Esapekka Lappi admitted that although he had a on 2018 Rally de España, he “learned a lot.”
Lappi, who will depart the Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team and join the Citroen Abu Dhabi World Rally Team next season, finished seventh in Spain and 2018 was the first time he has completed the event.
After a tough opening day on the Spanish gravel, the next two days of asphalt stages saw the young Finn constantly improve and by the end of Sunday, he had moved up to seventh overall; his position being improved because of the late demise of teammate Jari-Matti Latvala.
Speaking about his first finish on the mixed surface round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Lappi said: “It has been a tough weekend, but it is nice to finish this rally for the first time, which is important, and I think I learned a lot during the weekend.”
“Today (Sunday) I didn’t have much to fight for in the overall standings: I just needed to bring the car to the finish and secure the points for the manufacturers’ championship, and in this sense everything went well.”
Lappi will help Latvala and title contender Ott Tänak to try and give Toyota their first manufactures championship since their WRC return at Kennards Hire Rally Australia, which takes place between November 15-18.
