Last year, Pajari drove his first full season in the top category of the World Rally Championship in Toyota’s Rally1 car, and his pace improved as the season progressed.
Last year, Pajari made a conscious – and perhaps quite wise – decision and in a large part of the rallies played it safe, so to speak.
But now Pajari is no longer just learning. He stepped onto the podium for the first time in his career at the Japan WRC Rally last season and finished an excellent fourth in the season-ending Saudi Arabia WRC Rally.
Toyota sporting director Kaj Lindström believes that Pajari can raise his level even further in the upcoming season.
“I’ve been quite confident about it. Sami really did have a pretty good season last year and drove quite moderately in the rallies where we were still gathering experience. Then at times he was able to push a bit more. When you gain more experience, that so-called base pace starts to increase, Lindström says in an interview with RallyJournal.com.
“Then it’s easier to attack and even drive for wins. I believe that Sami will have a good season,” Lindström outlines.
There has been something new to notice in Pajari’s demeanour. There is now a very different kind of fire in the Finnish driver’s eyes compared to, for example, the early part of last season. Lindström shares this view.
“Well yes. As said, it’s a new season now and he’s got the feel. The break was quite short this time, and you can clearly see that the guy is really motivated, and that is of course always a good thing,” Lindström praises.
