The young Toyota driver had been running an excellent fourth overall after SS10, but the following stage proved treacherous for several drivers – Pajari included.
He suffered a puncture but initially decided to press on at a slower pace. Toward the end of the stage, however, he opted to stop and change the tyre.
“We always have a preliminary plan based on the stage distance – whether we should try to reach the finish or stop to change the tyre. In that moment, the plan was to make it to the end, and I tried to drive smart to preserve the tyre.”
“But then I noticed it had gone down to the rim. At that point, I didn’t want to risk damaging something else. Maybe I could’ve made it, but I chose to play it safe,” Pajari explained.
Had he changed the tyre immediately after the puncture, Pajari likely would have retained fourth place. Instead, the late tyre change cost him over three minutes, allowing teammate Elfyn Evans – who also had a puncture on the same stage – to leapfrog him in the standings.
Pajari, however, remained composed about the outcome.
“Of course it’s disappointing, but not terribly so. The situation isn’t bad even now. But sure, fewer setbacks would be nice,” he reflected.
“In the end, it didn’t affect things that much. Elfyn got ahead, but I don’t know if that really matters so much between us Toyota drivers.”
Pajari heads into Sunday’s final leg of the rally in fifth place. With no immediate threats behind him, he won’t need to push too hard on the day’s four remaining stages.
“Hopefully I can find some kind of rhythm tomorrow. But really, the main goal is just to get through,” he concluded.
Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier leads the rally by 11.1 seconds over Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, with Kalle Rovanperä holding third place.
