Esapekka Lappi earned his first ever victory in sealing the Finland Car rally in his Homeland ahead of Briton Elfyn Evans and compatriot Juho Hanninen.

Esapekka Lappi won the race with the total time of two hours 29 minutes and 26.9 seconds.

Belgian Thierry Neuville took over the World Championship lead from Frenchman Sebastien Ogier despite finishing only sixth.

Ogier had been forced to abandon the race on Friday following a crash and scored no points.

But in finishing sixth in the race and third in the power stage, he took 11 points to draw level with Ogier on 160, and goes ahead by virtue of three rally victories to two this season.

Lappi was competing in only his fourth rally. He won a special in his second rally, in Sardinia, and now just four races into his career has claimed his home rally too.