RTE Motorsport, which competes in the Finnish Rally Championship with Škoda, will take a step in a more professional direction next year when it builds a service bay alongside the Finnish Championship rallies that already resembles, in size and facilities, the motorhomes familiar from the World Rally Championship.
Instead of the previous tents, proper facilities will be brought to the service area, with more space than before and a much more professional approach overall.
“We’re trying to make a slightly more professional service bay next year. It won’t be a hotel like some WRC teams have, but we’ll make it look more like a proper bay. There will be LED-lit logos and the like, so it will look good even in the evening,” said Esapekka Lappi, who will again contest the Finnish Championship with Škoda next year.
“We’re putting quite a lot of money into it. We’re trying to make it look like a classy thing, and somewhere you’re happy to bring guests as well. There will be a chef making food, and there should always be coffee and pastries available,” Lappi continued.
At this point it was pointed out that RTE Motorsport’s upcoming service bay already resembles, quite closely, for example Hyundai’s equivalent.
“Well, I can’t really say, because I didn’t visit it at all this year,” Lappi quipped, making the entire room laugh.
Next year Lappi will also be visiting Hyundai’s service bay fairly often again. The Finnish driver will return to the World Rally Championship next year, driving Hyundai’s third car on a rotating basis with Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon.
Before that, however, Lappi will begin the defence of his Finnish championship together with his co-driver Enni Mälkönen. The new Finnish Championship season begins on 17 January with Rally Mikkeli.
The World Rally Championship, meanwhile, begins in the traditional way with Rally Monte Carlo, run at the end of January. Lappi’s first WRC rally will take place in Sweden in February.
