– Toyota driver Sami Pajari made rally history at the age of 24. The Finn achieved something that even the great WRC legends have not managed: After his maiden win in the WRC, he went on to win two more rallies.
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Pajari first won in Estonia, then in Finland, and now in Paraguay. “This means a lot to me. It is really something special,” Pajari says in an interview with Motorsport.com, a sister site of Motorsport-Total.com.
“Someone told me that no one has ever done this before, and that really makes it special. You really have to pause and realize [that I achieved this]. It’s so incredible, of course I’m happy.”
Sebastien Loeb won his first rally in Germany in 2002 and had to wait until the season opener in 2003, the Monte Carlo Rally, for his second win. Sebastien Ogier celebrated his first wins in 2010.
For the first time, he cheered from the top step of the podium in Portugal. Four rallies later, he celebrated his second win in Japan. With nine world titles each, Loeb and Ogier are the most successful drivers in WRC history.
Pajari is competing in his second full season in the top class. He only retired at the season opener in Monte Carlo. Since then, a seventh place in Portugal has been his worst result. Only in Greece (fourth place) was he not present on the podium.
He stood on the podium as third four times, once as second, and now three times in a row as winner. “I’m happy about the points we were able to get again. We are doing well in the world championship fight. I’m happy about that.”
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“But it was already a really demanding rally on Thursday, and on Friday we had a small problem [a water loss], and it took a while to figure out what was wrong, fix it, and so on.”
“But after that, the car was really reliable, and the performance was one hundred percent right. Still, it wasn’t just about taking full risks from start to finish, which is clearly different from Estonia and Finland.”
“Here you just had to control,” Pajari says about the demanding terrain in Paraguay. “I was in the lead and had to keep the gap and my tires under control, and much more.”
“I tried to drive smart, and looking back now, it seems like that’s exactly what we did.” Thanks to his recent successes, Pajari now has realistic chances for the world championship title.
The gap to his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans is now only 20 points. Three rallies remain on the calendar: Chile, Sardinia, and Saudi Arabia. Does the world championship chance now change Pajari’s approach?
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“The title fight is underway, but I will continue to give my best. I’m not saying it will be easy or anything like that, and I’m not putting too much focus on winning [the title].”
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