Esapekka Lappi crashed violently in the Central European World Rally Championship on Czech roads. The Finn’s exit revealed again how the public followed the race in the wrong place. The next special test had to be stopped also because of the audience.
Roope Visuri,
Jussi Jäkälä
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Esapekka Lappi drove out again in the World Rally Championship when he crashed into a tree in the fifth special stage of the Central European World Rally Championship in the Czech Republic.
The World Rally Championship has not released a video of the exit, but a few spectators filmed the situation. They show that the public is in a completely wrong and dangerous place on the outside corner. One spectator recorded the outing from just meters away.
– Only from the video did I notice that the viewers had found a wise place to go and watch. Fortunately, nothing happened to anyone, Lappi acknowledged the audience’s behavior in an interview with .
The public has already caused problems in the Czech World Rally Championship. The sixth special test after Lapland’s exit was stopped due to the dangerous positioning of the audience.
Problems related to the public’s behavior came to the fore already in September at the World Rally Championship in Greece. The camera of Esapekka Lapi’s car showed how a spectator was watching the race right next to the road, and even then the special test was stopped because of the crowd’s behavior.
‘s expert Henri Haapamäki was saddened at the time by the current phenomenon, where spectators tend to get close to the road, usually in the hope of pictures and videos.
– It is unfortunately common for the audience to be positioned really close to the road. Especially nowadays, when everyone wants to have the best video taken, Haapamäki stated.
Haapamäki reminded that orderlies cannot be next to each other during a special exam. In this way, people can also move outside the areas demarcated for them. They can cause dangerous situations.
– For example, a stone the size of a fist can bounce off a car tire, and it’s really bad then, which would also be a shocking place for the driver.
This is how Lappi explained his most recent exit
Lapland’s exit in the Czech Republic was already the fourth of the season. The Finnish Hyundai driver hit a tree first with his right rear tire and later with his left front tire. Lapland’s car spun in the situation.
– When I touched the brake, I started to slide. Maybe I was too far off the road, Lapland said recently to rally media Dirtfish.
Lappi later opened up about his situation in more detail in an interview with .
– The rear of the car went under as soon as I touched the brake pedal. I must have gone a little too far, that is, the edges of the outer tires, or at least the rear tire, were partly on the side of the road with mud, Lappi estimated.
On Thursday, Lapland received a ten-second time penalty for a stolen start at the opening special stage of the World Rally Championship. However, the Finn was under attack on Friday. He was already in third place.
Lappi states that the Hyundai car was in bad shape while driving out. He does not think he will be able to return to the competition on Saturday.
Lapland’s continuation in the World Rally Championship has been talked about a lot since Hyundai informed the Estonian Ott Tänak too to move to the team for next season. Lappi told Dirtfish that he doesn’t think the latest setback will affect his situation next season.
The story was completed at 20:19 with Esapekka Lapi’s comments.