Sami Pajari has significantly advanced towards his first victory in the World Rally Championship after a brilliant performance during the Estonia Rally. The Toyota driver reached the final day with a 25.0-second lead over his teammate Oliver Solberg.
Saturday was a long and challenging day with nine stages, where Pajari demonstrated his superiority by winning seven of Friday’s stages and extending the lead to 17.6 seconds until Solberg interrupted his streak with two stage wins.
Despite this, Pajari regrouped in the afternoon, setting the best times in the first three stages of the route and closing the day with a total of 12 victories in the 16 timed stages so far. ‘It’s not easy, but we feel comfortable with the lead, even though there’s still a lot to run tomorrow,’ Pajari commented.
For his part, Solberg acknowledged that the handling of his GR Yaris improves over time, but that he needs to take more risks to compete at Pajari’s level. ‘I have been too cautious on some occasions, even though the morning was more positive than Friday,’ he stated.
The battle for third place was also very exciting, with Hyundai teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville fighting closely. Fourmaux started the day with a 7.5-second lead, which was reduced to just 1.9 seconds before the final stage. Neuville showed exceptional pace, winning stage 15.
Sébastien Ogier, the current world champion, did not have a great day, finishing in fifth place over a minute and a half behind the leader. ‘It has been a long and difficult day, and we haven’t been able to fight to improve positions,’ Ogier admitted.
Tomorrow, the last two stages of the rally will take place, with the Kaariku stage of 24.39 km as the closure. Pajari is looking to make history with his first victory in the WRC, and the excitement is palpable.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
