Esapekka Lappi failed to overtake his teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville in any of the 18 special stages at last week's WRC Rally Estonia; in the overall standings, he finished eighth, 2 minutes and 31.9 seconds behind the winner. Compared to his teammates who finished third and fourth, approximately a minute behind rally winner Sami Pajari, Lappi's gap was quite significant.
My feelings and the stopwatch didn't match.
The Finnish driver admitted he didn't fully grasp the performance issues he was experiencing throughout the weekend. "My feelings and the clock just didn't match," said Lappi, adding that while he didn't expect to fight for victory, he thought he could have been much closer to his teammates. The fact that his last race was the Kenya Safari Rally four months ago, and that the two events are considered diametrically opposed in terms of driving style, is among the factors suggested to explain this compatibility issue. Lappi stated that he made progress in terms of aerodynamic load during the process of getting used to the car again, but struggled to feel the tire grip. He recounted that on Saturday he exceeded his tire limit, went off the road, and almost crashed into a tree, adding that this experience helped him understand that he might never get that grip feeling and that he needs to develop compensatory strategies accordingly.
Hyundai: Expectations were very high.
Hyundai's sporting director, Andrew Wheatley, disagrees with Lappi's harsh assessment of himself. Wheatley points out that Lappi isn't competing in every round of the championship and is by nature a competitive driver, adding that he assumed he could maintain the same level in Estonia after reaching the same level as Neuville and Fourmaux in the Swedish Rally. However, according to Wheatley, this prediction was wrong: “In fast gravel rallies, a small hesitation leads to significant time losses, and it's impossible to recover that time.” The sporting director stated that Lappi still made progress on a stage-by-stage basis during the two challenging days, and the gap per kilometer between the two powerstage passes narrowed significantly.
Objective: To maintain momentum in the Finland Rally.
Wheatley stated that they consider the upcoming Rally Finland, with its one-week break in between, as a single long-distance event, and added that they hope Lappi will carry the momentum he gained in the final stages to Finland. Lappi, who won the Rally Finland in 2017, aims to deliver a more competitive performance at his home rally. Neuville will also participate in an additional event scheduled before Finland.