The Hyundai driver was reported to have began stage three late which left the Finn doubtlessly dealing with a time penalty.
Nevertheless, Lappi has since defined that he began the stage on time however was briefly delayed as a consequence of a miscommunication with the startline marshals.
Lappi headed to the stage begin having misplaced hybrid energy following a heavy touchdown within the day’s opening check and was initially advised he could not begin the stage as a consequence of a flashing inexperienced mild hybrid indicator on his i20 N.
“We have been in time management already nevertheless it occurred on the startline,” Lappi advised Autosport.
“I suppose my inexperienced mild flashed or one thing and so they [the marshals] mentioned I can’t begin so I needed to reverse from there after which we had some dialogue with the marshal as a result of the inexperienced mild was on. I believe they bought scared or no matter as a result of for a couple of seconds it was not on.
“There should not be penalty as a result of we have been precisely on time.”
Touted as one of many contenders for victory in Estonia, Lappi headed to mid-point service in fourth total, 14.5s behind rally leader and Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville.
Lappi admitted it was irritating to lose time to a scarcity of hybrid however took the blame for inflicting the failure. The unit is ready to be reset forward of Friday afternoon’s phases.
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai World Rally Staff Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Picture by: McKlein / Motorsport Images
“I used to be nonetheless with out it [on the last stage of the morning] so we’d like a Compact Dynamics [WRC hybrid manufacturer] laptop computer,” Lappi added.
“At the start [of stage two] the soar with the large drop, I had too heavy a touchdown it appears.
“Yeah, it’s [frustrating[ but in the end I f***** it up myself. I was not expecting these things to happen but it was my mistake.
“It is frustrating but you just have to forget it and try to minimise the time loss. I really enjoyed the driving.
“The gaps are really small normally and it is tough to gain time back but anyway we did all we could. I was really flat out especially the last stage.”
M-Sport’s Ott Tanak clean swept the morning loop as the home hero recovered to 31st overall after being lumbered with a five-minute penalty after undergoing an engine change on Thursday.