E. Lappi tested with Hyundai ahead of WRC Rally Mexico 2023

Hi, friends!

Finnish rally star Esapekka Lappi changed all the teams which were active in the sport in the last five or six years. He drove for Toyota, Citroen, M-Sport and now he is with Hyundai. He drove for Škoda Motorsport in WRC2 before he got a contract in the top-tier category so that means that he knows the way every team works, machinery, tires etc.

He has only one World Rally Championship win and that was at his native Rally Finland 2021 with Toyota. and that's where he stopped as a big hope. He has lots of podiums in WRC but wins are still missing. He finally has a full time program with Hyundai after last year's part time job at Toyota.

It is very hard to find a job as a works driver these days so he has to be very patient but also to deliver the results because that is what is expected from the works driver.

His first two rallies are8th place at Monte Carlo Rallye and 7th place at Sweden. I guess that he is still learning the car and it is hard to expect anything bigger from these two outings. I guess that his bosses look at this as a learning curve but it's hard to predict when their patience will be at a loose.

sapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville are the two drivers at Hyundai with full season so it is expected that they will test ahead of every WRC event. From this year they have a limited number of testing days so the team decided to send them to the national rallies to test in the competitive environment. I guess that this probably better then to cruise on the same road for a complete day when they test somewhere.

This time they are not testing competitively. They found a roads very similar to the roads you can find at WRC Rally Mexico and they are doinh everything they can to prepare for the Mexican event as good as possible.

We have the video from the test. Please enjoy... :)

Credit for photos and videos to WRC and Youtube

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