It was close that Pajari would have made his first appearance in the top class of the WRC already in July in Latvia, but the debut was postponed by a few weeks. In fact, it was not far off that Pajari would have driven the GR Yaris Rally1 car this weekend in Poland.
Sebastien Ogier was injured in a collision during the recce for the Rally Poland on Tuesday. Kalle Rovanperä, who was on his summer holiday, stepped in to help. If Rovanperä had not agreed, Pajari would likely have been the next option.
“I wasn’t contacted directly. There was certainly some discussion about it. We talked about it over coffee, that if Kalle wasn’t available. Then who knows what would have happened,” Pajari laughed to RallyJournal.com.
“On the other hand, it’s just playing with the idea, but I would have gladly driven.”
Pajari admitted that the two-time world champion Rovanperä is undoubtedly a more suitable option for the job than himself, who has no experience with Rally1 cars.
“Soon I’ll be driving that car anyway, so in that sense, it would have been a reasonable option. Kalle is definitely the only right choice for that job. It would have been hard to expect anything from me. Kalle will surely bring points to the team,” Pajari summarised.
However, Pajari will compete for WRC2 points in Poland. The only goal is to climb to the top of the podium in the fast gravel rally.
“We’ll try to drive flat out. I don’t really know what other goal there could be. The pace has been good all year, and we have a good result from Sardinia,” Pajari noted.
