Still fighting for the final top five of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Esapekka Lappi now faces the Central Europe Rally. The driver is in sixth place in the championship and has not been on the podium since Finland, being only one point behind Sébastien Ogier (Toyota)… who returns to action in this penultimate round of the year.
The Finnish driver from Hyundai likes the premise of a three-country event, anticipating some specific challenges: ‘It is an interesting concept that I really like; it is the first time we have seen this happen at the top of rallies. Friday will be demanding, since I know the Czech roads from past experiences. I don’t know Austria as much, but we have experience from Germany thanks to the Rally Germany. It is the time of year when there will be a lot of rain, as well as leaves from the trees, so it will be a challenge to manage the different natural elements. I strongly believe that there will be three sets of different characteristics throughout the weekend, as there will be three countries. I don’t think we have had this kind of changes on asphalt before, so it will be a unique event for which we need to prepare.’
Lappi also spoke about his goals for the Central Europe Rally: ‘The goal is to attack, if we do that I am sure the final result will be good.
