Rally Italia Sardegna leader Esapekka Lappi says that if he is to stand any chance of securing a first win on the Mediterranean island, he must get the fundamentals right for Saturday’s opening loop.
Lappi snatched the lead of the Olbia-based event on the closing Friday stage from the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 of Sebastien Ogier despite picking up a slow left puncture as the rain started to fall.
At one point, Ogier – on his return to the Japanese squad since April’s Croatia Rally – threatened to run away with top spot as the eight-time World champion led Lappi by more than 16 seconds.
However, Lappi dug deep and responded with a superb drive on Friday’s antepenultimate stage at the wheel of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car to almost half this and went on to clawed back another two seconds on the next speed test to leave the deficit at a much more manageable 6.7s.
He carried this momentum into the repeat of ‘Monte Lerno’ – the longest stage of the weekend at 49km – and completed it holding one of the tiniest of overnight leads in the history of the WRC.
“Today was a day of survival. There was a lot of surprises on that final stage with muddy braking points or muddy corners that were hidden behind the bushes,” reflected Lappi, who found himself in a similar situation to this at Rally Mexico back in March only to crash out early on the Saturday.
“The mixed conditions meant you couldn’t really fully commit because you didn’t know what to expect, but on the other hand you had to commit in order to keep the speed, but we managed.
“You knew as soon as you entered the forest sections it was going to be muddy and slippery, but there were also some puddles in the open air which was a bit of a surprise – it was not easy at all.”
He added: “I hope to have a better start tomorrow than I did in Mexico, but first of all we have to make the right tyre choice in the morning. After that, we need to continue what we did today and see where we are after the final stage. The stages are a mix of different roads, but we will be fine.”
Whilst quick to praise Lappi, Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul was quick to sound a note of caution by making subtle reference to the Mexico crash. “Psychologically, it is good to be finishing the first day in the lead, but we’ve been there before and we all know it can change very quickly,” he said.
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