Departing Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team driver Esapekka Lappi said although he struggled at times during 2018 Kennards Hire Rally Australia, he was happy that he helped Toyota to win the manufactures title.
Lappi will move to Citroen for 2019 alongside Sebastien Ogier and on his final event for the Japanese manufacturer, he ended up taking fourth overall and finished just over a minute behind winner and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala.
He said on his final outing for Toyota: “Today was definitely one of the toughest days of the season: the conditions were very tricky and that meant you couldn’t enjoy the driving quite as much. It is nice to end this part of my career in this way, by helping the team to win the manufacturers’ title.”
“I really wanted to finish on top but at least we had a good rally where we were back on the pace. Thank you to everyone in the team for their support.”
As Lappi leaves the team, 2019 will see Kris Meeke return to the WRC alongside Latvala and fellow Toyota driver Ott Tänak.
