Rally|The World Rally Championship season is at the door, but Esapekka Lappi is still without a job.
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The new season of the World Rally Championship starts in Monte Carlo on January 23.
Esapekka Lappi does not know about the continuation of his WRC career, the contract with Hyundai ended in 2024.
The career of a railway driver is attractive.
Rally The new season of the World Championship starts in Monte Carlo on January 23. Although there are only 2.5 weeks until the H-moment, Esapekka in Lapland there is no information about the continuation of his WRC career. The contract with Hyundai ended in 2024.
Pieksämäkeläinen has had discussions with the Korean team about a possible new contract, but they are in progress. He doesn’t know when the situation will be further enlightened.
“I can’t say anything. It seems like a long way to go to get an answer from there. It’s a pretty thin percentage that it would come true, but you never know,” Lappi said on Tuesday.
Lapland aims to wash away the so-called gig driver. Last season he drove five World Cup rallies.
“The full season is not attractive when there is no so-called offseason at all. I’m sure many people think it’s stupid to only want to drive for half the season, but when I’ve been working as a driver for 11 years, the days are starting to fill up.”
“As I’ve said before, family comes before driving in all cases.”
Lappi flashed on social media that he is looking at other options and other series.
For example, a return to the European Championship would interest the 2014 champion if he was paid for driving.
“It’s not my thing anymore to take money with me in sacks,” says Lappi.
Others in the series, Lapland also meant a possible transition to a track driver Kalle Rovanperän in the footsteps.
“I have a background as a track driver, so those jobs would somehow be attractive. A couple of years ago, I went to drive the same Porsche that Kalle raced in last year, and it was really fun.”
“But these are just thoughts at the level of theory, just ideas in my own head. I’ve tried to think about how to enjoy driving without major stress and still be at home a lot.”
Lapland is a partner in a specialized motor sports company from Varkaus, which imports and sells motor sports products and equipment. So he would not remain unemployed, even if his career as a professional driver continued.
“I’ve been involved in this business for four years, brainstorming and hustling. Yes, there is plenty of work here too, and it’s nice when it’s something related to one’s own sport.”
Lapland perennial map reader Jan Ferm announced in September that his career in the World Series is over.
Esapekka Lappi started rallying in the main class of the World Championship in 2017. He has two competition victories under his belt.
In the 2024 World Cup, Lapland collected 33 points, which was enough for 12th place in the series.