Pajari had a rollercoaster of emotions during his WRC debut

Sami Pajari says that his participation at Rally Finland was an emotional rollercoaster for him and does not believe that he was the highest-placed Finn last week, but he finds positives on his performance.

The Finn driver made his WRC debut with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 on his home event last week and impressed with his attitude. His rally did not start well as he did two mistakes in Stage 2 as he spun out in the same spot that Gregoire Munster locked up while he came off near the end of SS2 after his having lost the front of his Yaris and having come off in a left-hander resulting in having huge spoiler damage and a rear wing damage. After this incident, Pajari dropped time due to the fact that his Yaris had less aerodynamics and was more unstable, but he managed to complete Friday morning and to return back to the service park. He started the second loop of Friday more dynamically as he set the second-fastest time in Stage 6 while he claimed his maiden stage win in World Rally Championship as he was the fastest driver in Stage 9. His next mistake came in Stage 17 on Sunday when he came off the road and onto the grass as he got stuck on the inside of the corner and made an emergency manouvre. Pajari finished in fourth place overall in Finland last week taking advantage over Elfyn Evans's driveshaft issues and his compatriots' retirements (Esapekka Lappi and Kalle Rovanpera) and was the only Find driver who finished inside the top five. Finally, it is not known yet if Pajari will do another outing at top class with Toyota as he is currently one of the WRC2 title contenders, but Jari-Matti Latvala stated that they are in discussions with him for a Rally1 seat in 2025. 

"I’m relieved to have finished my first event in a Rally1 car", Pajari said. 

"What an emotional rollercoaster this week has been! 

"It sounds nice to be the highest-placed Finn on Rally Finland and scoring fourth place on my first event – and scoring my first stage win – but there’s still plenty of room to improve. 

"I was expecting a more consistent and relaxed event – I don’t remember a time the weather was so challenging on Rally Finland. 

"It’s not been the perfect weekend for the team but I’m happy to find positives in my own performance. 

"Huge thanks to Toyota and the whole team: it was a dream come true to drive on my home rally with the GR YARIS Rally1".

Photo Credits: Toyota