Esapekka Lappi, the driver famously billed as being faster than God by his fellow Finns, says competing in ambient temperatures exceeding 40 degrees centigrade on the Malaysian Rally next week will be “hell”.

Lappi starts the fourth round of the Wurth-supported Asia-Pacific Rally Championship on top of the standings following his second win of 2013 in Australia last month where MRF Skoda team-mate Gaurav Gill failed to finish. “We are leading now but the next rally is in Malaysia and my team-mate Gaurav has been there many times,” Lappi told MAXRALLY.

“It’s quite a difficult rally, 40 degrees, it’s hell I think.”

Lappi will make his Malaysian Rally debut with a three-point lead over Indian Subaru Impreza driver Sanjay Takale, who has extensive experience of competing in the country.

Gill, meanwhile, is a further three and a half points adrift and can also count on the knowledge garnered from several Malaysian Rally outings.

However, while the prospects are for hot weather in Johor where the event will take place from August 23-25, there remains a strong possibility of heavy rain.