Toyota driver Esapekka Lappi endured a tumultuous final stage of the Rally Finland: how he saved third place after a triple rollover
With a comfortable lead of 42.9 seconds over his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans, Esapekka Lappi went into Sunday’s final two special stages of Rally Finland, round eight of the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC). What could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot! In the end, the Finn was able to celebrate the eighth podium of his career at the site of his only WRC victory. After a triple rollover, he crossed the finish line with an all-round demolished Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 – and with the necessary portion of luck. “That was certainly one of the strangest podiums ever,” says Lappi. “I was lucky that we got through it and were able to fix everything.”
Seemingly safely on course for the podium, Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm had started the 10.84-kilometre special stage “Oittila 2”. But then things got out of control in a left-hand bend.
Totally surprised by the rollover
“The rollover took me by surprise because I know the corner very well,” said Lappi. “On the first pass, I had still looked to see if there was room on the outside to take it a bit further. And then suddenly there was this rut that slowed the car down and sent it into a rollover. “
Still in P3 after rolling on SS21 – @EsapekkaLappi / @Veermi
Wolf Power Stage LIVE now ➡️ https://t.co/IXbfRuzl7MWRC WRCLive I WolfPowerStage I RallyFinland pic. twitter.com/jPp2dR4m6O
– WRC – FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) August 7, 2022
Three times the Toyota rolled over the roof and then – fortunately from Lappi’s point of view – stopped again on its wheels. Nevertheless, the Finn thought at that moment that the rally was over for him. “I was about to get out, but Janne told me to start the engine,” Lappi said. “I thought to myself: try it, but the windscreen was completely ruined. So I thought I had no chance.”
Despite the shattered windscreen, Lappi reached the finish of the stage safely, losing a total of just 16 seconds of his lead over Evans. But the subsequent inspection of the car revealed a damning finding. “When we got to the finish and I saw the power steering oil on the windscreen and all the smoke, I knew something was wrong,” said Lappi.
Cooling water bunkered by the lake
In addition to the broken windscreen, which co-driver Ferm pushed out with his feet, the car had also lost the rear wing in the rollover. More serious, however, was damage to the radiator, but here Lappi’s geographical peculiarities in Finland played into his cards.
“We were given some drinking bottles at the end of the stage, but we didn’t drink them. The good thing about this rally is that it used to be called the 1000 Lakes Rally. You can just stop for water at a lake. I filled all the bottles and my Camel bag to make sure we had enough water,” reports Lappi.
But that was not the last problem the Finnish crew had to overcome. “When we accelerated for the first time on the last stage, the entire roof flew off. It was then a bit airy in the car,” said Lappi. “Janne had to shout the write-up to me because the draft was so loud. That was quite a story. “
