Pajari drove the last two WRC rounds in the top class with Toyota’s full-blooded Rally1 hybrid car. However, now the Finnish hopeful will step back down a class to the cockpit of Toyota’s Rally2 car.
Before Japan’s tarmac rally, Pajari is third in the WRC2 class standings. He has an excellent opportunity to claim the class title, as the drivers ahead of him, Oliver Solberg and Yohan Rossel, have already completed their points-scoring rounds and will not compete in Japan.
The situation for Pajari is straightforward: if he finishes in the top two in the WRC2 class competition in Japan, the Finnish driver will secure the title.
Achieving this would see Pajari accomplish a rare feat: he would become only the second driver in the championship’s history to claim both the junior JWRC title and the WRC2 crown.
Only Swedish driver Pontus Tidemand has previously achieved this, winning the junior championship in 2013 and the WRC2 title in 2017. Pajari clinched the JWRC championship in 2021.
This year, Pajari has also delivered impressive performances in the top class, but his focus is now back on the WRC2 title. He carried out a brief preparation session in Finland ahead of Rally Japan, and on Wednesday, he began his journey to the Land of the Rising Sun.
“When I was driving in Chile and Central European Rally (in the GR Yaris Rally1) I was focusing on those rallies. As soon as I finished in CER, I was focusing to Japan and the fight in WRC2,” Pajari explained to the WRC’s official website.
“Of course, it would be nice to stay in the Rally1 car and it’s been fantastic to drive it this year, but there are lots of positives going to Japan with the Rally2.”
Pajari competed in Japan’s tarmac rally in 2022, finishing fifth in the WRC2 class in a Skoda.
“It’s really nice to go to Japan,” he said. “The fans are amazing and it will be really nice to compete on the home event for Toyota,” Pajari reflects.
Rally Japan will take place from 21 to 24 November.
