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Finland countdown: 2017 rewind

To start the build-up to next week's Neste Rally Finland (26-29 july), we look back at last year's momentous event when Esapekka Lappi stunned the world as he took his first WRC win.

Thursday 27/Friday 28 July

Lappi put down an impressive early marker in his Toyota Yaris as he set the fastest time on eight of the opening 12 stages. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala was second - only 4.4sec behind.

It proved to be a great opening day for the home rally fans as Teemu Suninen completed a Finnish lock-out of the top-three places. He guided his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta to third, 14.6sec shy of Lappi's benchmark pace.

In contrast, Suninen's team-mate Sébastien Ogier had a disappointing first leg. The Frenchman damaged his Fiesta's rear suspension after a heavy landing, before crashing into a tree a few corners later. His rally was over.

The world champion's closest challenger in the points race also had a day to forget. Thierry Neuville struggled to find some good pace in his Hyundai i20 and finished the opening day in eighth place.

Saturday 29 July

After winning the opening five stages on day two, Latvala overhauled Lappi to take the lead. However, an ECU issue left the three-time Rally Finland winner stranded at the side of the road in SS19 and that handed the advantage back to Lappi.

The 27-year-old took his chance and pulled out a 49.1sec gap to Suninen, who couldn't match his compatriot's impressive turn of speed.

Juho Hänninen held onto the final podium place despite the Finn's Yaris being hampered by a broken front anti-roll bar.

A late stage win moved Elfyn Evans to within just 1.3sec of the top three. The Welshman was consistently quick on day two and that allowed him to pull clear of fifth-place Neuville who had uncovered some useful speed overnight.

Evans displaced Craig Breen, who slipped from fourth to sixth after he spun and overshot a junction in his Citroën C3.

Sunday 30 July

Despite breaking a wheel on the penultimate stage, Lappi kept his head to secure his first WRC win by 36.0sec - in only his fourth start for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

A titanic battle for runner-up spot ensued during the final day as Suninen, Hänninen and Evans went head-to-head.

Suninen blew his chances as he crashed on the penultimate test. That dropped him down to fourth and it was Evans that capitalised as he moved ahead to claim second place - just 0.3sec ahead of Hänninen.

Breen recovered from his earlier troubles to secure fifth place, while Neuville's lack of consistency meant he had to settle for sixth, 10.5sec behind the Irishman.

Zdroj: wrc.com