Esapekka Lappi expresses his desire to have a partial campaign for 2025 and reveals that there are talks between him and Hyundai, but this does not mean that he will keep driving for them next year.
Lappi signed a part-time contract with Hyundai for this season while Rally Chile was his final outing with the i20N as Andreas Mikkelsen will drive the third car in Central Europe and Japan. Moreover, his co-driver, Janne Ferm, announced his WRC retirement at the end of Rally Chile which means that Lappi has to find a new navigator if he will stay in World Rally Championship next year. However, Hyundai had stated that they might change their third-car policy and to have only full-season drivers in 2025 with Thierry Neuville having already secured his seat at the squad. On the other hand, Adrien Fourmaux is linked to join the Alzenau-based team with a full contract while Ott Tanak is set to renew his deal with them. Lappi's future in WRC remains uncertain considering that two young drivers, Sami Pajari and Martins Sesks, may do their rookie season in 2025, but the most important thing is that the Rally1 seats are limited considering the fact that WRC is running with three teams and minimum eight cars.
"If I could choose, I would do a similar programme to this year and maybe do a couple of events more", Lappi said.
"This three-month break after Kenya was too much.
"If we could do a similar programme with better planning and better testing and without long breaks then yeah I think that could be really nice.
"We have talked about it but nothing is decided and even if they still keep doing the shared third car it doesn't mean that automatically I will be there but still I'm not afraid.
"I know if this stops then my life will be fine".
Source: Motorsport.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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