The young Finnish talent has so far only one WRC rally under his belt with a top-tier car – Pajari piloted Toyota’s Rally1 car to a fourth-place finish in the Rally Finland in early August. His impressive debut in the hybrid machine has earned Pajari more chances to compete at the highest level.
In addition to this week’s Rally Chile, Pajari will also take the wheel of a Rally1 car in the Central European round in October. Rally Chile takes place on gravel, a more familiar surface for Pajari compared to the tarmac roads of Central Europe.
“I’m really excited to get back in the Rally1 car in Chile. I hope it can be a really enjoyable event for me. I competed in Chile for the first time last year in WRC2 and the pace was quite good,” Pajari says.
Last season, Pajari finished third in Chile in the WRC2 category. However, in the top class, Pajari plans to stick to a cautious approach and won’t push himself to battle the superstars unnecessarily. His balanced debut in Finland resulted in a fourth-place finish, a result that could be possible in Chile as well.
“The roads there are nice and a bit similar to some of the stages in Finland: mostly quite fast and flowing, with of course some specific challenges as well,” Pajari summarises.
“I’m hoping I can have a similar weekend like in Finland – try to enjoy the driving and get better with every kilometre.”
Pajari has been rumoured to join Toyota’s WRC team next season, at least to share driving duties in the same car as Sebastien Ogier. The calm young driver from Lahti isn’t letting himself be stressed about results or his future.
“I try not to feel any pressure in terms of the result. The main thing is just to get more experience in this car and all the seat time that I can,” Pajari delivers a classic line.
Rally Chile features a total of 16 special stages, covering around 307 kilometres.
