22-year-old Pajari finished sixth overall and secured second place in the highly competitive WRC2 class. He couldn’t catch the host country’s Oliver Solberg, but it was competitive racing throughout the weekend.
The second place in the class was clinched with a mere 2.5-second margin ahead of Estonian Georg Linnamäe, who, like the Finn, drives Toyota’s new Rally2 car.
“I really had to drive. The last stage was surprisingly slippery. I assumed we had better tires and would have more grip. A couple of spots went a bit wide, so I started to feel whether that lead would hold, but this time it did. Feeling really good,” Pajari summarized after the race.
“Usually, the Rally Sweden isn’t this challenging. We had a blizzard on Friday and tire gimmicks yesterday (Saturday), which was tough. Almost today (Sunday) were the only stages we drove flat out from start to finish. A few blunders there were, where we lost unnecessary seconds over the weekend, but all in all, despite everything, a really fantastic feeling.”
Pajari had no chance of catching the winner. The gap to Solberg eventually was a minute and 19 seconds.
“Of course, I would have liked to be closer to Oliver, but he is really strong here. That’s just something I have to admit. Right after that, I have to remember that this is an absolutely good result. Last year we were third, and now second. There’s room for improvement for next year,” Pajari thought.
– Jyväskylässä olimme yleiskilpailussa viime vuonna seitsemäs ja nyt kuudes, joten parannusta siihenkin.
Toyota’s new Rally2 car showed better performance in Sweden than in the season-opening Monte Carlo round. Following Pajari and Linnamäe, Roope Korhonen and Mikko Heikkilä occupied the next positions with the same equipment.
“I myself had a few fastest times yesterday. The speed is there, but of course, we still need to develop and improve. However, we are on a good foundation, and I am absolutely satisfied with that. Our second place and the other Toyotas also being in good positions bode well,” Pajari concluded.
“Monte was a different race, and there the idea was emphatically to finish in one piece. From here, I was already expecting a podium position, but that second place is absolutely a great thing. I can’t say we drove cautiously. There were no crazy attempts, though.”
Linnamäe praised the Finn. The Estonian, who achieved his first podium position in this class, put everything on the line, but Pajari stayed ahead on Sunday.
“He said he drove the morning as hard as he possibly could, especially the second-last stage. He came to the finish and, if I understood correctly, said that now it came out really well, but still, I won. He just said, ‘Well driven.’ It was very close to perfect performance,” Pajari recounts Linnamäe’s comment.
