Esapekka Lappi will bring his professional rally career to an end after the final round of the Finnish Rally Championship in Porvoo. The 35-year-old Finn announced that he plans to focus on his family and life outside rallying after completing what he described as his final event of the season.
Lappi leaves full-time professional competition with 95 World Rally Championship starts, two outright victories, 15 podium finishes and 77 stage wins. He said the decision closes his professional career rather than making an absolute promise never to compete again.
A final season across two levels
During 2026, Lappi combined a five-round WRC programme for Hyundai Motorsport with the defence of his Finnish title. In Hyundai’s i20 N Rally1, alongside co-driver Enni Mälkönen, he finished sixth in Sweden and fourth at Safari Rally Kenya before competing in Estonia, Finland and Chile.
His sixth place in Chile is now his final WRC result for the time being. The domestic campaign delivered a title with one round remaining. Lappi and Mälkönen sealed their second consecutive Finnish championship by winning every stage of August’s Kitee Rally in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Porvoo will therefore serve as a closing appearance after the championship itself has already been secured. That allows the event to mark the end of the professional programme without placing the title outcome on the final weekend.
From Finnish champion to WRC winner
Lappi began in rally sprints in 2007 and made his WRC debut at Rally Finland four years later. His breakthrough came in 2012, when he won all seven rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship and moved into Škoda’s factory programme.
He won the European Rally Championship in 2014 and the WRC2 title in 2016. Toyota then gave him an opportunity at the top level in 2017, and Lappi won Rally Finland in only the fourth round of his Toyota programme.
His best championship finish was fifth in 2018. Later spells took him to Citroën and M-Sport Ford, followed by selected Toyota appearances in 2021 and a broader Toyota campaign in 2022. He joined Hyundai for 2023.
Two victories, six years apart
| Victory | Team | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Rally Finland | Toyota | 2017 |
| Rally Sweden | Hyundai | 2024 |
The Sweden win ended a gap of more than six and a half years since his home victory. It also gave Hyundai the second of Lappi’s two outright WRC successes. Most of his top-level achievements were recorded with long-time co-driver Janne Ferm, before Mälkönen joined him for the final phase.
A career defined by several routes to success
Lappi’s record spans national, European, WRC2 and outright WRC competition. He progressed through several championship levels, represented four manufacturers in the WRC and returned to domestic rallying strongly enough to retain the Finnish title.
His phrase “never say never” leaves open the possibility of later appearances, but the current decision is clear: Porvoo ends his professional career. The final start follows a season that joined selected Rally1 competition with control of the Finnish championship, giving Lappi a competitive closing chapter rather than a gradual disappearance from the sport.
The gap between Lappi’s two WRC victories helps explain the persistence behind his record. His first came almost immediately after joining Toyota’s top-level programme, while the second followed spells with three other manufacturer programmes and a return to Hyundai. He remained capable of winning after his career had moved through full seasons, selected appearances and different technical packages.
The 2026 results also prevent the retirement announcement from being reduced to nostalgia. Fourth in Kenya showed that Lappi could still compete near the front in Rally1 machinery, and consecutive Finnish titles demonstrated sustained pace in Rally2 competition. He is leaving after winning a championship and completing a planned WRC programme, with Porvoo offering a final domestic start on his own timetable.