Curious: Esapekka Lappi had to stop at a restaurant on Friday to get water to put in the radiator afterwards
Esapekka Lappi has revealed how a quick stop at a restaurant to fetch water helped him get his battered Hyundai through the special stages of the Acropolis Rally in Greece on Friday.
The Finnish driver’s i20 N Rally 1 suffered a radiator leak, believed to have been caused by compression on the Loutraki stage. Lappi had to stop after the fourth stage to make repairs that allowed him to limit the water loss.
However, as water continued to leak from his car, Lappi and his co-driver Janne Ferm secured some water bottles at the end of the stage to refill the car’s radiator. However, an unscheduled stop at a restaurant was necessary to finish the remaining two stages safely.
“I think I made the leak a little smaller, but every 30 kilometres I needed two litres of water,” says Lappi. “I was able to get water at the stage ends because we could get bottles there, and once we stopped at a restaurant on a road section.”
“There was a tap in front of the restaurant and we filled up the bottles. It wasn’t crucial, but we just wanted to make sure we had enough water for the stage.”
Thanks to the stop at the restaurant, Lappi arrived at the Lamia service park in fifth place overall, 32.1 seconds behind teammate and rally leader Thierry Neuville.
It’s not the first time Lappi has had to get creative in a rally to keep his chances alive. Last year, when driving the Rally Finland for Toyota, he was forced to stop at a nearby lake to fetch water to refill the damaged radiator. This decision helped the Finn to finish third.
Looking back on his Friday in Greece, Lappi says the leaking radiator was not entirely to blame for his lack of pace: “The car was fine. My performance wasn’t all down to that.”
“I just didn’t feel good today in terms of set-up. I need to go back to what I know works from the past. This might give me a little less grip, but I’m sure I can push harder.”
The Acropolis Rally continues on Saturday with six more stages.
