Esapekka Lapi’s boss revealed his driver’s frustration in Jyväskylä’s winning battle – dismissed comparisons with Kalle Rovanpera: “He wanted too much”

Hyundai team manager Cyril Abiteboul was sorry that Esapekka Lappi had to stop the Jyväskylä World Cup rally.

broadcasts the events of the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship comprehensively: Listen live from Ralliradio from start to finish and watch the highlight clips fresh from ‘s highly popular rally coverage.

JYVÄSKYLÄ.

In the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship, the longest streak without a Finnish winner will probably continue Teemu Suninen or a Toyota team manager Jari-Matti Latvala make a miracle climb during the weekend.

The previous Finnish winner is Esapekka Lappiwho drove to victory in 2017 with Toyota.

Since then, Lapland has not won a single competition, but before this weekend there were glimpses of victory again. The Finn has had a good season with Hyundai.

However, on the first proper driving day of the Finnish race, the race was left unfinished in Lapland. Lapland hit the wood with the Halttula special test. The car could not be repaired, so Lappi will not continue the race on the weekend either.

Hyundai team manager Cyril Abiteboul was sorry that Lappi had to interrupt.

– It is very sad. We knew that he Esapekka wants to succeed here. Actually, maybe he wanted too much, Abiteboul stated to Urheilu.

Lapland was fourth at the time of the suspension and was not quite able to match Toyota Kalle Rovanperän up to speed. Before Halttula, Lapland was behind Rovanperä by 9.2 seconds.

According to Abiteboul, the team had experienced Lapland’s frustration when the morning run had not gone better.

– Maybe the frustration led to being more aggressive and that resulted in a run out, Abiteboul stated.

The team manager also opened up about what kind of laundry will be done with Lapland.

– We discuss how we could have helped more. We noticed that he was getting frustrated because he couldn’t be faster. We could have approached the situation differently. I hope we can have a constructive discussion. No need to add negativity. We know how sorry he is, Abiteboul said.

There are only a few Hyundai drivers left in the race Thierry Neuville and Teemu Suninen. The duo started Saturday’s race day in positions 2 and 4. According to Abiteboul, the aim is positions 1-3, but he admitted that Toyota is strong in its home race.

– Elfyn Evans (contest number one) has won here before. He is fast and has a lot of confidence, but we are chasing those places.

Before the start of the race, many experts thought that Hyundai would be able to challenge Toyota in the battle for victory in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship.

– We are not yet at the level of Toyota, and especially Kalle (Rovanperä). We didn’t even expect to be at that level, Abiteboul stated.