Esapekka Lappi and Jari-Matti Latvala are once again competing for the victory of the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä.
Esapekka Lappi is looking forward to the Jyväskylä rally and competing with Jari-Matti Latvala. EPA / AOP
Jari-Matti Latvala returns to the World Rally Championship after a three-year break, when he gets the chance to participate in the Jyväskylä race in early August.
Latvala, driving for the World Championship points for the first time with a modern hybrid cannon, said in Toyota’s press release that he is excited, and also agrees Esapekka Lappi. The announcement of a good friend and former competition partner did not come as a surprise to the man from Pieksämäki, as the signs of a comeback had been hanging in the air for a long time.
– Jari-Matti didn’t officially tell us that, but having known him for many years and knowing his sign language, I knew that this would happen.
Lapland does not want to create pressure for the “new” driver of a competing team. Vice versa. The Hyundai driver hopes that Latvala will enjoy the stages of Jyväskylä without aiming for points.
– The main thing for him is to have fun and not stare at the clock. That’s certainly enough. Of course, everything is possible, but he hasn’t driven top equipment for a while.
If Latvala, who is excited about the opportunity, beats everyone to the top, it would be a crushing place for the World Series drivers.
– Yes, it would embarrass others as well. It would be kind of the same as by Sébastien Ogier with. He shaves now and then and always injects into the cauldron. Jari-Mat’s situation is of course worse when he hasn’t driven for longer. That first place shouldn’t be possible, but you can’t know at this point.
Lapland’s only first-class win in his career came in Jyväskylä in 2017. He is looking forward to getting to the familiar stages again and fighting hard for the win Kalle Rovanperän with.
– It will be a tough fight for seconds. The differences will certainly remain small and it is not easy to increase them there. I hope we can put on a good show.
Not for Tampere
Dirtfish, a news site specializing in rallying, reported last week that Rovanperä and Lappi are heading to Tampere for a national level rally competition on the weekend between the Estonian and Finnish World Rally Championships. The news was surprising, because Lappi found out about it from questions sent by friends.
– I’m not going. It was a news duck or they forgot to tell me a relatively big thing.
A spokesman for PR-Racing, the organizer of the Hyancenter rally, said on Friday that the event has negotiated the participation of Lapland and Rovanperä with Hyundai and Toyota. Registration for the competition ends on July 18.