The last day in Portugal was made up of five short stages in the Fafe region, and Lappi made a flying start with a stage win on the opening test to move up from fifth to fourth overall. He traded the position with Dani Sordo over the next two stages, but after the #rally he was given a 10-second time penalty for an infringement on Friday evening's street stage, which dropped him back to fifth. He did however take victory on the rally-ending Power Stage, claiming five bonus points to move up to fifth in the drivers' championship.
On the middle stage of the day, Luilhas, #Toyota claimed a one-two in the stage results, with Latvala posting the quickest time and Lappi in second. Latvala had been forced to retire on a tough Friday for the team (when Ott Tänak's #rally also came to an early end) but was able to return under #rally 2 rules on Saturday and show his strong pace in the #yariswrc over the final two days.
QuotesTommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)"It is good to have finished #rally Portugal on a positive note. It was obviously a disappointing start on Friday for everybody, but it was good to then see Jari-Matti back in action and for him to get two good clean days behind the wheel. Esapekka did very well to challenge for the podium, and he had a great fight against Teemu Suninen: it was nice to see these two young Finns pushing each other so hard. Esapekka didn't win the battle on this occasion, but he still managed to get five points from the Power Stage, which was really nice to see and a good reward for his effort over the past two days. Overall, we will try to learn from this weekend and be stronger next time."© Copyright 2024