Esapekka Lappi
Esapekka Lappi is a Finnish rally driver, born in Pieksämäki on 1991-01-17. Wrc round winner is the short version of the record; the long version, season by season, is below. He is competing in WRC for Hyundai in 2026.
Esapekka Lappi: Career Record And Results At A Glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Esapekka Lappi |
| Born | 1991-01-17 — Pieksämäki |
| Nationality | Finland |
| Discipline | rally driver |
| 2026 series | WRC |
| 2026 team | Hyundai |
| Teams on record | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT |
| Stories in the last 30 days | 9 |
Those fields are Wikidata claims. Each carries its own item identifier, so any of them can be re-checked at source. A missing field means neither source holds it. Nothing here is estimated.
Esapekka Lappi Career Wins On Record
2 wins are listed on the career record. Those 2 wins are given as they appear in the source — event, season and co-driver where a co-driver applies — rather than summarised into a career total, because a summarised total is the kind of number that goes quietly out of date. The results below are the record itself — each win, the season it was won in, and the co-driver alongside him for it. A career of 2 wins reads differently depending on how many starts it took, which is why the season results follow rather than a standalone win total.
| # | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67th Rally Finland | 2017 | Janne Ferm | Toyota Yaris WRC |
| 2 | Rally Sweden | 2024 | Janne Ferm | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 |
Esapekka Lappi Career Results, Season By Season
Esapekka Lappi season by season from 2011 to 2026: which team, which car, and where each campaign finished. On the rally side the columns are the individual rounds, so a blank means he did not start that event and a number means he did. Wins, podiums and championship positions are in the same table rather than summarised above it.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Printsport | Citroën C2 R2 | SWE | MEX | POR | JOR | ITA | ARG | GRE | FIN 32 | GER | AUS | FRA |
| 2012 | Printsport | Ford Fiesta S2000 | MON | SWE | MEX | POR | ARG | GRE | NZL | FIN 25 | NC | 0 | |
| 2013 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | MON Ret | SWE | MEX | POR 10 | ARG | GRE | ITA | 30th | 1 | ||
| 2015 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON | SWE | MEX | ARG | POR 12 | ITA 17 | POL 12 | FIN 8 | GER 42 | AUS | FRA 14 |
| 2016 | Esapekka Lappi | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON 9 | 12th | 16 | ||||||||
| 2017 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota Yaris WRC | MON | SWE | MEX | FRA | ARG | POR 10 | ITA 4 | POL Ret | FIN 1 | GER 21 | ESP Ret |
| 2018 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota Yaris WRC | MON 7 | SWE 4 | MEX 11 | FRA 6 | ARG 8 | POR 5 | ITA 3 | FIN Ret | GER 3 | TUR Ret | GBR 3 |
| 2019 | Citroën Total WRT | Citroën C3 WRC | MON Ret | SWE 2 | MEX 13 | FRA 7 | ARG Ret | CHL 6 | POR Ret | ITA 7 | FIN 2 | GER 8 | TUR 2 |
| 2020 | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta WRC | MON 4 | SWE 5 | MEX Ret | EST 7 | TUR 6 | ITA Ret | MNZ 4 | 6th | 52 | ||
| 2021 | Movisport | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 | MON | ARC 10 | CRO | POR 7 | ITA | KEN | EST | BEL | GRE | 12th | |
| 2022 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | MON | SWE 3 | CRO 49 | POR | ITA 44 | KEN | EST 6 | FIN 3 | BEL 3 | GRE 22 | NZL |
| 2023 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | MON 8 | SWE 7 | MEX Ret | CRO 3 | POR 3 | ITA 2 | KEN 12 | EST 3 | FIN Ret | GRE 5 | CHL Ret |
| 2024 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | MON | SWE 1 | KEN 12 | CRO | POR | ITA | POL | LAT Ret | FIN 43 | GRE | CHL Ret |
| 2026 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | MON | SWE 6 | KEN 4 | CRO | ESP | POR | JPN | GRE | EST | FIN | PAR |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | MON Ret | SWE | MEX | POR 1 | ARG | GRE | ITA | 16th | 25 | ||
| 2015 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON | SWE | MEX | ARG | POR 2 | ITA 9 | POL 1 | FIN 1 | GER 13 | AUS | FRA 2 |
| 2016 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON | SWE 3 | MEX | ARG | POR | ITA 9 | POL 3 | FIN 1 | GER 1 | CHN C | FRA |
| 2021 | Movisport | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 | MON | ARC 1 | CRO | POR 1 | ITA | KEN | EST | BEL | GRE | FIN | ESP |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | AUT | ITA | CRO | BUL | BEL | TUR | POR | CZE | ESP | POL 1 | SUI |
| 2013 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | JÄN | LIE | CAN | AZO | COR | YPR | ROM | ZLÍ Ret | POL | CRO | SAN 2 |
| 2014 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | JÄN | LIE 1 | ACR 4 | IRE 1 | AZO | YPR Ret | EST 5 | CZE Ret | CYP | VAL 1 | COR Ret |
Early career and ascent to WRC
Esapekka Lappi, born in Pieksämäki, Finland on January 17, 1991, began his professional rallying career in earnest in 2012. That year, he secured the Finnish Rally Championship with a Ford Fiesta S2000, achieving a perfect record by winning all seven rounds alongside co-driver Janne Ferm.
His performance attracted the attention of Škoda Motorsport, with whom he signed in October 2012. Lappi immediately delivered a victory at the 2012 Rally Poland, an event within the European Rally Championship (ERC), driving a Škoda Fabia S2000. The following year, 2013, saw him competing in multiple championships. In the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with Team MRF, he claimed three victories and finished second overall. Simultaneously, he participated in select events of both the ERC and WRC-2 for Škoda Motorsport, including a win at Rallye International du Valais in the ERC and a victory at Rally de Portugal in WRC-2, where he also secured his first WRC point by finishing tenth overall.
Lappi's trajectory continued upward in 2014, as he won the European Rally Championship title, securing wins in Latvia, Northern Ireland, and Switzerland. He then transitioned to the new Škoda Fabia R5 for the 2015 WRC-2 season, earning victories in Poland and Finland and finishing third in the championship standings. The culmination of his WRC-2 efforts arrived in 2016, when he clinched the WRC-2 Championship title with the Škoda Fabia R5, winning events in Finland, Germany, Wales, and Australia. This consistent success paved his way to the top tier of international rallying.
WRC breakthrough and team transitions
Toyota Gazoo Racing recruited Lappi for the 2017 World Rally Championship, placing him in a Toyota Yaris WRC. His progression was swift. At the 2017 Rally d'Italia, his second event with the team, he secured his first WRC stage win, adding five more throughout the rally and ultimately finishing fourth. The true breakthrough arrived at his home event, Rally Finland, where in just his fourth World Rally Car start, Lappi claimed his maiden WRC victory. This performance marked a significant moment in his career, validating his transition to the sport's highest level.
Lappi's tenure with Toyota concluded at the end of the 2018 championship. He then moved to Citroën for the 2019 season, partnering with Sébastien Ogier and driving the Citroën C3 WRC. Despite a challenging year marked by retirements, he achieved three podium finishes, securing second place in Sweden, Finland, and Turkey. Following the 2019 season, Citroën announced its withdrawal from the WRC, prompting Lappi to seek a new team. He subsequently joined M-Sport for the 2020 season, competing in a Ford Fiesta WRC for the full calendar alongside Teemu Suninen.
After a period of varied WRC2 entries in 2021 with Movisport and RTE-Motorsport, Lappi returned to Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2022 to drive the new hybrid Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. He shared the third car with Sébastien Ogier, contributing to the team's efforts. The end of the 2022 season brought another significant move as Lappi signed with Hyundai Motorsport for the 2023 season, marking his involvement with all three major WRC manufacturers. This full-time contract was a key career objective for Lappi. In 2023, he finished sixth in the championship, achieving four podiums: three third-place finishes in Croatia, Portugal, and Estonia, and a second-place finish in Sardinia. He re-signed with Hyundai for a partial campaign in 2024, notably securing his second WRC victory at Rally Sweden, seven years after his first win at Rally Finland. This victory established a new record for the longest gap between WRC wins, spanning 81 rallies.
Every Driver From The Same Country Racing In 2026
11 of them are contesting a professional championship this season, and Esapekka Lappi is 5 of the 11 by coverage over the last thirty days. This is the field a driver is measured against at home, and where his own career sits in it. The bars are 30-day story counts from our own tracking: they show how much attention a driver is getting, not how quick he is.
| Driver | Series | Team | Stories, 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sami Pajari | WRC | Toyota | 39 |
| Valtteri Bottas | F1 | Cadillac | 28 |
| Teemu Suninen | ERC/WRC2 | Hyundai | 16 |
| Kalle Rovanperä | single-seaters/GT | – | 9 |
| Esapekka Lappi | WRC | Hyundai | 9 |
| Tuukka Taponen | FIA F3 | Ferrari Driver Academy | 7 |
| Jari-Matti Latvala | WRC | Toyota (team principal) | 5 |
| Roope Korhonen | WRC junior | – | 2 |
| Marcus Amand | Porsche Supercup | – | 2 |
| Lauri Joona | WRC2 | – | 2 |
| Emil Lindholm | WRC2 | – | 1 |
Finland's World Rally Champions
Finland has produced more World Rally Championship drivers' titles than any other country, and the list is short enough to give in full. Every name here has a page on this site.
| Driver | Titles | Record on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Juha Kankkunen | 4 (1986, 1987, 1991, 1993) | four WRC world titles |
| Tommi Mäkinen | 4 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) | four WRC world titles |
| Marcus Grönholm | 2 (2000, 2002) | two WRC world titles |
| Kalle Rovanperä | 2 (2022, 2023) | two WRC world titles |
| Ari Vatanen | 1 (1981) | 1981 WRC world champion |
| Timo Salonen | 1 (1985) | 1985 WRC world champion |
Six drivers are on that list against one Finn currently in Formula 1, and six more are contesting the World Rally Championship this season. That is the ratio this site has to be built around, and it is why the rally desk is not a sideline to the F1 desk.
Teams Esapekka Lappi Has Driven For
The teams carried on this driver's record, most recent first where the record orders them: Hyundai, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. A team list is a blunt instrument on its own — it says nothing about which car was competitive — which is why the season-by-season results table above gives his finishing positions alongside each one.
Following Esapekka Lappi Through The 2026 Season
Our Rally and WRC desk covers every round he contests. The 2026 calendar carries each session in Helsinki time. His results land in the results archive.
Esapekka Lappi is one of the drivers tracked on the driver index. WRC puts him in the largest of those groups. Start there for the whole picture: one on the Formula 1 grid and six in the World Rally Championship — a ratio that would have looked absurd twenty years ago. The junior ladder is where the next ones come from.
Every driver page here is generated from the same record, so the figures are comparable across them. The method is set out in the editorial policy, and the desk that maintains these pages is the Finnish Desk.
Career fields are Wikidata claims (birth date, birthplace, teams, honours) and the results tables are the career-statistics tables from the same entity's reference article, source. Formula 1 career totals are from our own Finnish F1 dataset; 2026 finishes are the official classification via the Jolpica Ergast mirror. Checked 26 August 2026. Where a figure is absent it is because the record does not carry it.