Pajari claims back-to-back WRC victories

Sami Pajari claimed back-to-back World Rally Championship wins with an emotional home victory in a drama-filled 75th-anniversary edition of Rally Finland.

After securing a maiden WRC win in Estonia two weeks ago, Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen produced a faultless drive in hugely challenging conditions to take a second career WRC win by 26.7s from Toyota team-mate Oliver Solberg, who had to fight back against pain on Sunday.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans completed the podium after recovering from a roll in stage 14.  

“It feels simply amazing. I don’t know what to say. It was a big thing to take a first win in Estonia but a home win is always something special. Winning at home has not been so easy for the Finns but after one really crazy rally we made it,” said Pajari, who became the 14th Finn to win Rally Finland and is now second in the championship, 30 points behind Evans.  

A combination of Finland’s fast gravel roads, that require full commitment and changeable weather, created one of the most eventful editions in history. Six of the 11 Rally1 crews either went off the road or rolled across the 20 stages.

Rally winner Pajari was among the few to complete the distance without issue. Crashes for Toyota team-mates Elfyn Evans and Sebastien Ogier catapulted the 24-year-old into the lead on Saturday.

Ogier, partnered by stand-in co-driver Julien Ingrassia for the absent Vincent Landais for personal reasons, quickly gelled to win three of the four morning stages to open up a 5.3s lead over stage-one winner Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux on Friday morning. 

Ogier’s lead then grew to 16.3s as torrential rain wreaked havoc on Friday afternoon. Fourmaux was among those that unfortunately faced the worst of the conditions, admitting that he needed a boat rather than a car to navigate through the stages. Fourmaux dropped from second to sixth due to the conditions as Evans, who had the best of the weather, climbed to second ahead of Pajari.

Now faced with a better road position, Evans applied pressure on Ogier, reducing the gap to the nine-time world champion to 11.6s before drama hit the Welshman in stage 14. Evans ran wide and rolled his GR Yaris before then getting stuck in a ditch; 1m49s was dropped as the Toyota driver plummeted from second to fifth. 

It meant Ogier headed into Saturday afternoon with a 22.7s lead over Pajari and appeared to be in control of the rally. However, Ogier suffered a high-speed crash in stage 17 that pitched his GR Yaris into a series of frightening rolls.

Sebastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The stage was cancelled to attend to Ogier and Ingrassia, who exited the car unaided but required a visit to hospital for precautionary checks. The pair reported they were both OK after undergoing medical examinations.

As a result, Pajari inherited a 46.4s lead over Solberg, who started the rally struggling to find the feeling in his Toyota. The Monte Carlo winner was also among those punished by the torrential rain on Friday afternoon. 

Pajari made no mistake in Sunday’s two passes through the 30km Himos-Jamsa to clinch an emotional victory.

Solberg came through to finish second and topped the Super Sunday standings despite clearly being in pain. The Swede took painkillers after injuring his back after a heavy jump landing in the penultimate stage, which he won. 

Evans found himself in third after overhauling Fourmaux across Saturday afternoon. The Welshman admitted he was lucky to recover back to the podium from his Saturday mistake. After being firmly in the victory hunt on Friday, Fourmaux came home in fourth.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville recovered from a crash, which damaged the front-left of his i20 N Rally1 car in stage five, to snatch fifth.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Federico Manoni / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Toyota‘s Takamoto Katsuta finished sixth after struggling for speed and losing two minutes to a misted-up windscreen on Friday. The Japanese driver lost fifth spot after running into trees in the Power Stage. 

M-Sport’s Josh McErlean was among the few to enjoy a clean rally on his way to seventh.

McErlean’s team-mates Jon Armstrong and Martins Sesks were among those to hit trouble. Armstrong rejoined the rally on Saturday after getting beached in a ditch in stage three. Sesks ran as high as fifth until the Latvian suffered a high-speed roll in stage 14.

Hyundai’s third driver Esapekka Lappi saw his home rally come to a premature end after rolling his i20 N in stage four. Damage to the roll cage put the Finn out for the remainder of the event.  

We want to hear from you!

– The Autosport.com Team