Lappi Seals Finnish Title with Dominant Kitee Victory

Esapekka Lappi and Enni Malkonen secured the Finnish rally championship title in Kitee on Saturday with a flawless performance, winning all eight stages.

From the opening stage, Lappi took control, closely monitoring both conditions and rivals' pace. After the first test, their rhythm improved dramatically, setting the fastest time on every remaining stage.

The final margin over Estonia's Patrick Enok was 24.3 seconds. This dominant victory clinched their second consecutive Finnish title, and Lappi's third of his career.

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Earlier wins in Mikkeli, Rovaniemi, and Riihimaki, plus a second place in Jyvaskyla, had already put them in a commanding position. Despite an off in Imatra, four wins and a podium were enough to seal the SM1 championship before the season finale.

“Although this achievement isn't comparable to winning the World Rally Championship, we never come to these rallies to mess around – we always drive to win. We take it completely seriously,” Lappi said.

“Of course, it's probably expected that we'll take care of this championship, but something can always happen. As you get older, your pace might slow down. But we were still able to give the youngsters a run for their money.”

Lappi described the day as fantastic, calling the route one of the coolest he's driven in the Finnish championship. “There was no time to get bored in the car, because you really had to drive all the time. We were fastest on every stage, so that was a nice little crown to celebrate the championship,” he summed up.

With the title secured, Lappi now heads to Porvoo for the season finale without pressure, aiming to cap the season with another win.