Esapekka lappi wrc 2015?

[satukata]

It´s time to next young gun in WRC car?

I think Esapekka is ready and best young talent.

what you think?

Esapekka´s career

2007 Finnish karting champion
2008 Winner in all 21 rallysprints in Finland for young rally drivers
2011 Neste oil rally class winner
2012 Finnish rally champion. Won all 7/7 FRC rallies in Finland.
2012 Winner in Poland(ERC)

2013 Winner in Rallye Du Valais (ERC)
2013 3 wins in Asia (APRC)
2014 3 wins in ERC
2014 European rally Champion! after 2 weeks ... He needs only 5pts in last Rally tour de corse.

NEXT year WRC? Hope he gets WRC... 4th VW car? or Huyndai 4th car? Toyota 2016?

[N.O.T]

No he is not ready yet.

[denkimi]

No he is not ready yet.
i would't say that without seeing him try first. but i think abbring should be given a chance first since he is better.

[nafpaktos]

i think i would like to see what he can do with r5,of course he did excellent job with the s2000 but i would like to see if he can be with the new r5 as fast as Abbring was this year.Kevin showed with his r5 that without problems he could win all the events he participated.I am sure Essapeka will take a chance to drive in the big championship cause he is really good driver,but i dont know when.i know that vw keeps an eye on him but this year andreas showed very big improvement and huge potential for the future so...maybe Lappi's future is not in vw.

[N.O.T]

It is easy to be fast in ladycups with ladycars... things get a bit more serious in the big league...

[denkimi]

It is easy to be fast in ladycups with ladycars... things get a bit more serious in the big league...
no.
the impressive ones always remain the impressive ones.
it doesn't matter if its jwrc, erc, irc, wrc2 of whatever they invent, potential world champions always tand out.

ogier, meeke, neuville and now abbring and lefebvre are the ones that truly impressed me the last few years.
but drivers like breen, tanak, paddon, evans, wiegand, bouffier never really looked like future champions to me. and the same for lappi. for sure he's a fast driver, but i don't think he's wrc-factory-driver fast.

[bluuford]

Have seen him live. He is not WRC material yet. He is fighting with Breen. We have seen Breen in WRC this year, not his place yet.

[satukata]

i would't say that without seeing him try first. but i think abbring should be given a chance first since he is better.

Abring is fast on tarmac, but Peugeot 208 is much faster car than skoda s2000 in many rallies so hard to say. I say Lappi is faster if they both drive similar cars whole season.

[Mirek]

no.
the impressive ones always remain the impressive ones.

And that's the problem. Lappi has not been so impressive in the ERC like Neuville, Meeke, Mikkelsen or Hänninen were in the past. Despite him winning the title this year I feel a bit disappointed. Except Ireland he was only benefiting from problems of Peugeots. Abbring was clearly faster everywhere and what is more disturbing is that while Abbring (or in the past Meeke, Neuville, Mikkelsen, Hänninen) was able to fight for victory everywhere Lappi was not. His speed and results were too much up and down and he was too often struggling with local privateers (even with same car - Loix or Kresta were faster than him for example). He keeps crashing quite a lot as well.

Also last year he was not able to win APRC with the only one serious opponent in Gaurav Gill. The reason for that was plenty of his own mistakes and crashes. It's not a good sign when You see that this year Kopecký who is pure asphalt driver won APRC against the same opponent.

[satukata]

ERC/IRC champions before Lappi. Andreas Mikkelsen, Juho Hänninen, Kris Meeke..

And IRC and ERC rally winners Mikko Hirvonen, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Sebastian Ogier...

LAPPI is simply the best driver this year in ERC... so hope he get soon change to drive R5 and WRC cars in WRC rallies

[N.O.T]

Oh my god... we have a another one....

[satukata]

http://evenmanagement.no

Lappi and mikkelsen have same manager team..

LAPPI was watching VWs testing before Rally Finland...

What you think Lappi is going to do next year?

[N.O.T]

stay in the ladycup.

[denkimi]

ERC/IRC champions before Lappi. Andreas Mikkelsen, Juho Hänninen, Kris Meeke..

And IRC and ERC rally winners Mikko Hirvonen, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Sebastian Ogier...

LAPPI is simply the best driver this year in ERC... so hope he get soon change to drive R5 and WRC cars in WRC rallies
i understand you are finnish and want him to be(come) te best, but i doubt many here share your opinion.

abbring won 23 stages this year, lappi won 25. but abbring only completed 45 stages in 6 rally's, while lappi completed 88 stages in 7.

[Jack4688`]

Oh my god... we have a another one....

It's only as bad as we hear in every WRC related post about Krash Meeke

[satukata]

abring and breen have much faster car.. Peugeot 208 in ERC is like vw in WRC

Abring have 23 stage wins and Breen 22... How many stage wins have other Skoda drivers?

Lappi is really fast and i think he is next finnish driver in factory WRC team

[EightGear]

What you think Lappi is going to do next year?

ERC with Skoda.

[satukata]

when they have r5 car ready?

[EightGear]

And S2000 before that I suppose.

[Mirek]

when they have r5 car ready?

When it is homologated :) It's planned for March or April but who knows how it ends.

Besides that R5 is not a wunderwafe. The S2000 is bulletproof-reliable while all R5 struggle with reliability. He did not have worse car than Peugeot this year because his car never broke down.

[makinen_fan]

He did not have worse car than Peugeot this year because his car never broke down.

+ I remember someone saying that the suspension setup of the 208 is no so well developed as the Fabia's in bumpy asphalt roads (Barum, CoI)

[denkimi]

abring and breen have much faster car.. Peugeot 208 in ERC is like vw in WRC

Abring have 23 stage wins and Breen 22... How many stage wins have other Skoda drivers?

Lappi is really fast and i think he is next finnish driver in factory WRC team
what other skoda drivers? there's only wiegand, and we all know he's not exactly the reference.

i just don't see any truly impressive results from lappi. he's not jumping out like i would expect from a potential wrc-candidate.

[nafpaktos]

@makinen fan What happen in ireland is the proof of what you say.

[satukata]

What happen in ireland is the proof of what you say.

Lappi set the fastest time in first seven stages of rally ireland.. He was faster than Breen and Abring.. Conditions were slipy and it was easy to see who was the king of the young boys :)

In easy conditions Peugeot was much faster car. So Lappi deserves to be a champion

[Rallyper]

Abbring driving top notch R5 Peugeot, while Lappi fighting with old Skoda S2000. Come on Mirek. Where are your loyalty? Abbring is good. Lappi also. By the two guys Lappi showed who´s champion.

[satukata]

Abbring driving top notch R5 Peugeot, while Lappi fighting with old Skoda S2000. Come on Mirek. Where are your loyalty? Abbring is good. Lappi also. By the two guys Lappi showed who´s champion.

If you want check the speed and times of champion http://www.fiaerc.com/events/live/id/24

[bluuford]

Mirek is realistic person. It is clear that this year level in ERC is very low (thanks to the fact that couple of fast drivers are usually driving 33% of the stages). Fast driver should be fast everywhere! Right? What Lappi did in Rally Estonia? Enjoying the view? He was even slower than Rainer Aus who was driving ancient Evo 9 with worse tyres than my wife is using to go shopping?
He didnt set even a single top 3 times during the whole rally.
I was able to spectate him all rounds in shakedown and free practice + around 8 stages during the rally and mostly in technical and slow places. I was very dissapointed.
He didnt won a single stage in Greece.
He one only one stage in Ypres just before crashing out and he didnt win a single stage in Barum before crashing out (this rally should suit to this car extremely well..
Top driver is not allowed to have such unconsistency. He needs to prove himself in WRC2 or in ERC for another year (in some series with real competition) before going further.

[focus206]

Lappi might be ERC champion, but he's still too immature and I am a bit disappointed with him, especially when he failed even to win APRC last year, that really showed there's still work to do.

[Mirek]

Abbring driving top notch R5 Peugeot, while Lappi fighting with old Skoda S2000.

Uh? That top notch car which breaks every single rally? That old crappy Škoda is going for a championship double even with Wiegand. The crappy car also won with Loix and was leading with Kresta who is a retired bloke doing one rally per season. Guys, don't build flying castles in Your head. 208 T16 is no unbeatable space craft. It won only one rally in the whole ERC season.

Wiegand, Breen or Kajetawicz are not Neuville or Mikklesen. Seriously... when Hänninen took the title from Mikkelsen, Neuville, Kopecký or Loix, it was something remarkable. Can You say that about beating Wiegand (no offense to him) or ever-broken Peugeots? I can't. Shall I remember that Hänninen was able to beat Loix in Ypres or Kopecký in Barum? Lappi has not achieved anything like that so far, sorry. He even didn't manage to defeat Gill in APRC when asphalt boy Kopecký did so.

[stefanvv]

I don't think Lappi is WRC material. It sound little not serious for me. But maybe he can improve after 2-3 more years?!?

[cali]

I think the french beating has been too hard for some finnish fans :)

[stefanvv]

Yeah, to face the challenge called Ogier, really fast on some ocasions is far from enough. Lappi needs more time in lower leagues before becoming WRC top driver capable (if this is the goal).

[N.O.T]

I think the french beating has been too hard for some finnish fans :)

Yes and apparently most of them were administered on the head....

[liposh]

Lappi is really young and there is no doubt he has a lot of talent. I believe one day Lappi could be in WRC and on the top. But he needs much more time. At least two whole seasons from now. For example season 2015 in ERC with Skoda and season 2016 in WRC2 with Skoda could be great IMO.

Last point: Don´t forget Meeke and Hanninen were really old and with a (a quite) lot of WRC experiences in 2009 (H 28 yo, M 30 yo) and Mikkelsen drove WRC since he was 17, so he had 4 years of WRC experiences in 2011. The only natural great talent was Neuville in IRC.

[stefanvv]

Lappi is really young and there is no doubt he has a lot of talent. I believe one day Lappi could be in WRC and on the top. But he needs much more time. At least two whole seasons from now. For example season 2015 in ERC with Skoda and season 2016 in WRC2 with Skoda could be great IMO.

Completely agree, way too early for him to jump in WRC. Firstly must prove himself being perfect winning support category/championship, then we can talk.

[Rallyper]

Never said Lappi should have a seat right away. But having drives including much tactics makes him a candidate well ahead of many others mentioned. But - he needs single events in WRC already next year.

Peugeot R5 is top notch when it works - just so you know. Breaking down is another chapter.

[manthey]

How do you judge/classify Lappi (1991) versus other rising stars:

Chardonnet (1988)

Camilli (1987)

Quentin Gilbert (1989) same age of Abbring

Stéphane Lefebvre (1992) could overcome all of them?

Yohan Rossel the latest "fast French", very young (1995)

[N.O.T]

all of them have potential... and that is that.

[WUff1]

He simply proved too inconsitent this year.

[pantealex]

Lappi has deal with Skoda 2015.
Team will decide what he drives.
For sure it´s not a WRC-car.

no Toyota, no Hyundai ...
NORF with Fabia R5, maybe

[MartijnS]

Have never seen a single pass of Chardonnet which impressed me. Is he really that fast?

[N.O.T]

Have never seen a single pass of Chardonnet which impressed me. Is he really that fast?

No, he is not... but people are taking these ladycups and inferior leagues too seriously.

[thuGG]

No, he is not... but people are taking these ladycups and inferior leagues too seriously.

What's with you and these ladycups, every second post is about ladycups. Do you have some sexuality disorder?

[Mirek]

No, he is not... but people are taking these ladycups and inferior leagues too seriously.

Actually Chardonnet even did one ERC event this year but he was quite slow. Finished around 8th place in Estonia I think.

[mousti]

Chardonnet won't make it, he only showed something good when he got the chance to drive Alsace in a DS3 WRC, he did very good and since then he was the next Seb. But I think Lefebvre will surpass him soon as PSA next big thing..

[N.O.T]

What's with you and these ladycups, every second post is about ladycups. Do you have some sexuality disorder?

yes.

[JTGANG]

ERC/IRC champions before Lappi. Andreas Mikkelsen, Juho Hänninen, Kris Meeke..

And IRC and ERC rally winners Mikko Hirvonen, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Sebastian Ogier...

LAPPI is simply the best driver this year in ERC... so hope he get soon change to drive R5 and WRC cars in WRC rallies

It seems that due to being Finland also affects your judgement....Do not think anybody else in here considers
Lappi faster driver than Abbring...Blufford above made a very good point for him regarding his Wrc chances at least for now

[Rallyper]

It seems that due to being Finland also affects your judgement....Do not think anybody else in here considers
Lappi faster driver than Abbring...Blufford above made a very good point for him regarding his Wrc chances at least for now

But Lappi has delivered. Not Abbring. Yes, I know, car let him down. But what says he wasn´t the reason?

[denkimi]

But Lappi has delivered. Not Abbring. Yes, I know, car let him down. But what says he wasn´t the reason?
he has delivered what? he has beaten wiegand, but thats is.

[liposh]

One more post from me , please: Lappi needs one more or two more whole seasons to switch to WRC, that is for sure , but in my opinion I trush him and his talent and speed more than I trust in Breen or Abbring so in this point I do not agree with bluuford. Anyway let´s continue this discussion same time next year :-D

[nafpaktos]

Yes, I know, car let him down. But what says he wasn´t the reason?i suppose you trolling,cant find other explanation.

[Rallyper]

I have nothing against Abbring or anyone else driving fast. But a driver has to deliver no matter what. Breen did after all in his Peugeot. I´m not trolling. Maybe Abbring did.
Anyway, it should be interesting seeing him and some other guys in an WRC car. But some of you guys mentions him and him leaving the ones who should earn your attentions more.

[Mirek]

Can You tell me how can the driver cause electric problems, how can he cause problems to start engine in the cold or how can he cause crankshaft to get jammed? Of course there were plenty of issues which can be caused by driving but the very same guy hasn't had any reasonable problems with other cars.

[stefanvv]

Of course there were plenty of issues which can be caused by driving

Like Breen probably...

[vino_93]

How do you judge/classify Lappi (1991) versus other rising stars:

Chardonnet (1988)

Camilli (1987)

Quentin Gilbert (1989) same age of Abbring

Stéphane Lefebvre (1992) could overcome all of them?

Yohan Rossel the latest "fast French", very young (1995)

Chardonnet is too slow to become a top driver in WRC.

Camilli is impressive ... as Rossel, but we need to see them out of France. For sure they look really fast in France. Now it's time to face the world.

Gilbert ... nothing to same. Reliability ? 0. Speed ? He lost it. Look at this year in Dmack Cup, he doesn't beet some guys I wouldn't qualify as future stars. For me, his international career come to an end. At least he has sponsors, so they could pay him some drives ... but noone could seriously trust in him.

Lefebvre, for sure he will have a brilliant future. Incredibly fast ... but some drivers can't achieve the jump from 2WD to AWD, so let's see what will happen to him next year.

[Rallyper]

Can You tell me how can the driver cause electric problems, how can he cause problems to start engine in the cold or how can he cause crankshaft to get jammed? Of course there were plenty of issues which can be caused by driving but the very same guy hasn't had any reasonable problems with other cars.

More likely than accusing me trolling though...

[Mirek]

More likely than accusing me trolling though...

I haven't accused You of anything. Spare that please.

[Rallyper]

In the sequence of argumentation (which you indirectly continued) nafpaktos mentioned trolling, very OT btw, about what happened to Abbrings car.

But, however, we´re discussing Lappi not why Abbrings car let him down.

[nafpaktos]

Rallyper i apologize,sorry for my phrase it wasn't my intention to offend you, i overreacted without a reason,again sorry.

[Rallyper]

Rallyper i apologize,sorry for my phrase it wasn't my intention to offend you, i overreacted without a reason,again sorry.

Taken. No problem my friend. I know, overreacting me myself over and over. No matter what our thoughts are, we are rallyfans and main goal is that we should be able to meet anywhere face to face and be friends.

[Mirek]

In the sequence of argumentation (which you indirectly continued) nafpaktos mentioned trolling, very OT btw, about what happened to Abbrings car.

But, however, we´re discussing Lappi not why Abbrings car let him down.

I shall have quoted Your original post then.


But Lappi has delivered. Not Abbring. Yes, I know, car let him down. But what says he wasn´t the reason?

Anyway You are right. Let's leave it.

[COD]

While I think that Lappi is a huge talent and deserves a chance in the WRC later, in my opinion he would benefit of another year with Skoda learning the secrets of a turbocharged R5 and getting more experience from differen kinds of conditions and events. 2016 would be a good year for him to enter WRC

[jacko]

Lappi will win the ERC normally so next year it's the best to step up in the WRC2. So he can learn all the rally's and drive the Fabia S2000 in the first part of the season and than the R5 version later on. I think we all agree he's on pole-position to become the next Finn in a works-car (in the WRC). If he's good enough to become worldchamp one day.. well we will see, it's to early to say but generally he's a doing a good job so far with Skoda.

[satukata]

Congratulations Esapekka! ERC Rally Champion!

It was nice to see He won ERC ASPHALT master tittle too. (he won most SS during the season)

[SVrally]

I'd like to see Lappi in WRC2 next year .

[Iron]

Hello (I'l a new member here ;) )

I think Lappi will be one of the next big guys in WRC.

His young career is really impressive with its 7/7 on Finland championship in 2012, its speed compared to Ogier on Rally Finland 2012. It was an amazing beginning in the WRC, that doesn't happen so often...

Ok it has been more complicated then in ERC but it takes time. He had to learn tarmac and I think he has improved a lot (for example Ireland this year where he was really fast). Don't forget that S2000 atmo cars are slower than R5 car. Now we need to see him in ERC with the Fabia R5 but it's also really important for young driver to experience the WRC rounds.

It's to soon for a WRC wheel (if they were many manufacturers in WRC, maybe not) but I think he must show his pace and learn more WRC rallies, the best solution would be WRC2 (+ERC) with Skoda in 2015.

[RS]

Lappi got the job done in ERC this year, can't argue with that. He will need to improve some more next year though if Kopecky returns.

I would like to see him do ERC again, as many WRC recces as possible and maybe one or two WRC events too in a Fabia R5.

It would be ideal if one of the VW drivers moves on in 2016 and then he can take the third car there.

As for Abbring I think he has more to prove too. He is for sure fast but lets see how he does when he has to fight for event wins with other R5 drivers, if the Peugeot will last long enough to enable him to do that.

[OldF]

Lappi told YLE news that he has a contract with Skoda for two more years. Time will tell what his future is.

The Google translation is useless but funny.:D

Esapekka Lappi = Esapekka Lapland
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fi&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=fi&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fyle.fi%2Furheilu%2Fsuomalaiskomeett a_teki_historiaa_haudatulla_autolla_-_seuraava_askel_wrc-auto%2F7614119&edit-text=

[SVrally]

the best solution would be WRC2 (+ERC) with Skoda in 2015.
Yes...I think so too !!!

[Iron]

I've read that the two-year contract tha Lappi signed includes an option deal with Volkswagen for the future. It's really interesting. Maybe some rallies with VW for 2016?

But it's also tricky for a young driver to begin with the best team and the best WRC drivers in his team. So I hope he will be well-prepared (recce of WRC events this year, and if possible some events with the Fabia R5). Otherwise the comparison with his team mates is likely to be in his disadventage.

[dodge33cymru]

Assuming there is VW post-2015 ;)

[Lundefaret]

Lappi is off cource a very good driver, but if one should predict how he will perform in the WRC, one should take a few aspects in account.
Becoming a series champion is off cource a very good feat, but this years ERC has not been the strongest. A lot of problems with the Peugeot has hampered competition, and the season has been clouded by a lot of retirements, both driver errors and mechanical.
Lappis best performance - in my opinion - came in Ireland. But this is a very peculiar event.
For me he has not convinced in the same degree on gravel, and being very good on familiar events, but struggeling more on the unfamiliar ones, I suspect that the pace notes could be improved.
I also see an aspect in his driving technique that would need to be erectified before he is on true WRC level (but dont get me wrong, he is a very good driver ;) )
It is also not good that in some races he has "given up" on the turbo cars (R5´s). An S2000 has an advantage in many aspects.
But Lappi on his best on a rally he masters, like on his best in Finland, is true master class.

[polo10]

Lappi is off cource a very good driver, but if one should predict how he will perform in the WRC, one should take a few aspects in account.
Becoming a series champion is off cource a very good feat, but this years ERC has not been the strongest. A lot of problems with the Peugeot has hampered competition, and the season has been clouded by a lot of retirements, both driver errors and mechanical.
Lappis best performance - in my opinion - came in Ireland. But this is a very peculiar event.
For me he has not convinced in the same degree on gravel, and being very good on familiar events, but struggeling more on the unfamiliar ones, I suspect that the pace notes could be improved.
I also see an aspect in his driving technique that would need to be erectified before he is on true WRC level (but dont get me wrong, he is a very good driver ;) )
It is also not good that in some races he has "given up" on the turbo cars (R5´s). An S2000 has an advantage in many aspects.
But Lappi on his best on a rally he masters, like on his best in Finland, is true master class.
In what aspect do You think that s2000 has advantage? Apart of being more reliable ...

[Lundefaret]

In what aspect do You think that s2000 has advantage? Apart of being more reliable ...

If I am not misinformed a fully developed S2000 still has the edge when it comes to maximum power output.
The Skoda S2000 is a competition veichle in the end of its life cyclus, with all the developments that would sugest.
And, as You state, reliability.
To see what an S2000 Skoda can do in full flight one should look at what Ogier managed against WRC cars in the Skoda S2000.

The most important aspect is that differences between rally cars are almost always smaller than the drivers often believe.

But this is a little off topic. Lappi is a very good talent, but his future performance in the WRC is difficult to predict at this early stage, because the results wary - and two more years in Skoda - and the certainty that should deliver - would be very good for his development.