Hyundai and Toyota confirmed their line-up for the World Rally Championship season 2023. The rumored transfer of Esapekka Lapi to Hyundai was thus confirmed.
10:21 am•Updated 10:24 am
On Friday morning, the WRC teams of Hyundai and Toyota have confirmed their lineups for next season’s World Rally Championship. At the same time, the long-rumored move was confirmed: Esapekka Lappi drive in the 2023 season with Hyundai.
Toyota’s third car in the 2022 season Sebastien Ogier’s Lappi, 31, who shared with him, gets to drive for Hyundai for a full season. Another full-season driver is Belgian Thierry Neuville. The third Hyundai car of the season is shared by the experienced Spaniard Dani Sordo and Irish Craig Breen.
The 34-year-old Neuville has been driving for Hyundai since 2014.
Sordo has also been with Hyundai since 2014. He shared a car in the 2022 season by Oliver Solberg with. Breen is moving to Hyundai from M-Sport, with whom he would have had one year left on his contract.
Esapekka Lappi drove seven races with Toyota in the 2022 season. He drove to the podium in three of them: the third places came in Sweden, Jyväskylä in Finland and Belgium.
Hyundai is Lapland’s Fifth factory team in the World Championship. He competed in lower classes with Skoda. Lappi drove Toyota in 2017 and 2018, Citroen in 2019 and M-Sport’s Ford in 2020. Lappi has won one World Rally Championship in his career, in Jyväskylä in 2017.
The story is updated…