Six years, six months and 19 days. That is the exact span of time that stood between Esapekka Lappi's maiden WRC win in Finland and the moment he finally grabbed his second victory at Rally Sweden in 2024 alongside co-driver Janne Ferm.
Now running a selected programme with Hyundai Motorsport, Lappi brought a lead of more than a minute into the final Sunday consisting of three stages. While the chasing pack hunted for extra points, Lappi played it smart to bring the i20 N Rally1 home. When the dust settled, the winning margin over Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin sat at 29.6 seconds.
Meanwhile, the battle for the crown in Sardinia this October came down to the absolute final corners of the season. Evans had already finished as championship runner-up five times, and a puncture on the penultimate stage threatened to turn this latest chance into yet another heartbreaking near-miss.
After stopping to change a wheel, Evans arrived at the final Power Stage facing a direct winner-take-all showdown against Oliver Solberg where whichever driver set the faster time would take the championship. Evans finished his run and waited in suspense as Solberg ran ahead on the split times.
Solberg slid off the road near the finish before recovering to win the rally overall. But fifth place overall was enough for Evans and Martin to secure their first world titles by a margin of five points, making him the first Welsh drivers' world champion and Britain's first since Richard Burns in 2001.
