Pajari ruined his rally already on Thursday on the second special stage, when a collision with the barrier destroyed the left-rear of the car. Retirement followed.
The Finn continued in the rally on Friday, but the pace was gone. Confidence was lacking, so Pajari drove cautiously to the finish. The same idea carried over into Saturday, so that on Sunday Pajari could have gone for bonus points. That plan also came to nothing with another off, as this time the car slid off the road and hit a tree nose-first.
A weak start to the season will certainly not do any good for confidence, which should be at its peak when the series continues in a few weeks’ time at Rally Sweden, an event that suits Pajari well. Toyota deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen summed up his protégé’s rally succinctly.
“It was a bit of a damp squib, really. He went off a couple of times, which isn’t exactly a good thing for a man who likes and is used to driving on snow,” Kankkunen told RallyJournal.com
“This certainly wasn’t an easy rally. Sami probably knows what he needs to do better in the future. It’ll get better from here.”
The four-time world champion experienced weak moments himself during his career as well. However, Kankkunen did not go into giving Pajari any detailed advice.
“All you can do is drive. There’s nothing else to it, you just have to concentrate. It’s no more complicated than that – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
