M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s newcomer Esapekka Lappi took his best WRC career result at Rallye Monte-Carlo last weekend as he finished in fourth place overall.
Recovering from a difficult start with an overheating engine caused by leaves, Lappi was learning with every kilometre he drove on the tricky conditions as he gained the confidence to head into the final day of the rally in a battle for fourth place with nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb.
As Lappi was putting the seven-time Monte-Carlo winner under pressure, he came out on top and secured the position as well as an additional point for the fifth-fastest time through the Wolf Power Stage.
“This is my best result from Monte and I think the best we could have done this weekend, so I am really happy with that. I managed to concentrate only on myself and what we were doing, and that seemed to work pretty well.” Lappi said.
“It was a very challenging event and not always so easy, but we improved stage by stage and learnt a lot over the course of the weekend – so I’d say it’s been a positive start to the season.”
“We’re coming away from this one with a really strong result – especially when you consider where we were on Thursday night.” Richard Millener, Team Principal added.
“It was great to see Esapekka gaining confidence and coming out on top in the battle with Loeb. Fourth was the best we could have done this weekend, and he focused on himself to get the job done.”
