Pajari’s rally came to an end on the final day, Sunday, when he lost control of his Toyota and crashed heavily into a bridge railing.
After the impact, the car fell off the bridge, but fortunately, it landed on its wheels. Pajari and his co-driver, Marko Salminen, were thankfully unharmed in the harrowing incident.
At no point during Monte-Carlo did Pajari aim to push excessively. Throughout the weekend, he repeatedly emphasised that this was a conscious decision, prioritising the accumulation of valuable experience.
“The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard,” Pajari said, recounting Sunday’s events.
“There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it had been going according to plan until then,” Pajari explained.
Pajari’s early pace in the rally didn’t please Toyota team boss Jari-Matti Latvala. According to Latvala, Pajari was driving the stages too cautiously. However, on Saturday, the Finnish driver’s pace improved significantly compared to earlier.
“Especially on Saturday, we saw that the times were getting better, the feeling was getting better, and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control, so it’s a pity to end the rally like this,” Pajari lamented.
Pajari’s experience with the Rally1 class car can still be counted on the fingers of one hand. Now, the Finnish driver moves forward with one more valuable experience under his belt, heading towards Rally Sweden, which takes place in mid-February.
“We will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden,” Pajari stated.
The second round of the WRC season in Sweden will be held from the 13th to the 16th of February.
