Going into the fourth leg of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2013, Team MRF’s youngest recruit, Esapekka Lappi — the raciest in current times in the eyes of none other than India’s top rallyist, Gaurav Gill — will come up against the strongest challenge in his fledgling, yet supremely successful stint in rallying.
At just 22, Finland’s Lappi has taken the circuit by storm, literally, crashing through the minefields and myriad obstacles in his debut year on the grueling tour. Yet, Lappi knows that his biggest test will be in the extremely unforgiving conditions in this coastal city, some 300-odd kilometers from the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Unbearably hot and humid with spells of drizzle, the Malaysian Rally, the fourth in the six-leg series, is undoubtedly the toughest in the APRC Rally series. “Without doubt, this is the most difficult circuit, the conditions are so unbearable even given my experience on this stage,” said Gill ahead of the shakedown, on Friday.
Gill, who trails leader Lappi (78) by 6.5 points with a surprise package in privateer Sanjay Takale sandwiched between them at 75 points, could well have been at the top if not for unfortunate problems with the car’s suspension which forced him to quit in the Rally of Queensland last month.
“He is the best driver in the world in this format right now, so it gives us the competitive edge and also gives me a chance to show my true worth,” said the 31-year-old Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall) on Team MRF’s compatriot Lappi.
An absolute novice in these conditions, Lappi (co-driver Janne Ferm) is however, confident of a good performance given his knowledge of the car, Skoda Fabia-S2000.
The cars have been tuned to perfection, though as Lane Heenan, head of Race Torque Engineering and in charge of the MRF cars says, it will be the performance of the tyres and its durability on the dry and tough plantation terrains that will be the key.
“Halfway into the season, we have not made much changes to the cars, just a little bit here and there but the performances have been good,” said Heenan even as his crew toiled in the heat.
With the previous year being held in the night, the organisers have gone back to the traditional day-time driving this time around and the Malaysian leg includes 15 special stages with a total distance of almost 220kms spread over two days. The longest stage, the Tai-Tak Stage will cover a distance of 26.32km and will be run twice on Saturday.