Dealer
Lappi: 2019 has been ****
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Now these are the Colin McRae style interviews that we love at Nicky Grist Motorsports! The following might be a PR man’s nightmare, but in a brilliantly honest and open pre-Rally Finland Q&A, Esapekka Lappi doesn’t hold back.
Lappi, who should be challenging for the FIA World Rally Championship title, is only ninth in the drivers’ standings at the moment. His move from Toyota to Citroën for 2019 hasn’t been a bed of roses, as the 28-year-old Finn explains.
What is your feeling about the season so far? “It’s been s*it. There is not much else to say. One good result [second in Rally Sweden] does not make things any brighter. It has been very challenging, but we have to try to improve our results. There have of course also been my own mistakes. Driving has felt pretty good, but it doesn't show up in the stage times and then there is overdriving, which then leads to mistakes. We also have reached the homologation limit for this season, so we can't bring in new parts that might help.”
At what point did you realise that it takes time to get used to the car? “I realised it in Rally Sweden. There, at a familiar rally, I saw how challenging the driving was. My driving style is causing challenges with this car. I trusted that I could change my driving style, but I can't do as much as I should.”
Have you found any solutions? “In Portugal we went ahead. Maybe we had new parts then, but I wasn't told. Now those have been tested before the Neste Rally Finland. However, such a combination of diffs is not possible to get what I would like. It could be done 50/50, but then the other half would mean that we lose performance. And if we take that combination now, then it must be in the next four rallies as well.”
How would you compare Toyota and Citroën? “Compared to the 2017 Toyota, this car is pretty similar. The front rises quite a bit because of the lack of aero. However, the car is not as responsive as Toyota.”
How is the co-operation with Sébastien Ogier? “Now we have been facing the same challenges. He has started to understand the challenges I have been speaking about. Of course, it takes time to react and test the car and parts to be reliable. Next year this will surely be a pretty good car.”
What are your expectations for Neste Rally Finland? “I wish I will enjoy driving there. Then the result is probably moderate. Without other retirements, there is no chance to win.”
How does the rest of the season 2019 look like? “Probably not very strong. We thought we would have been strong in Corsica, but we weren’t. Germany is probably not very good then either.”
What does the season 2020 look like? “Next year there will be new aero parts. We will try to make as good car as we can. At the moment we are lacking performance.”
Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm wear Stilo WRC DES Zero 8860 helmets.
