Earlier this week, it was revealed that Pajari will drive the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car at the WRC round in Chile at the end of September and at the tarmac-based Central European Rally in October.
Pajari made his Rally1 debut earlier this summer at Rally Finland, where he impressively finished fourth. His performance was strong enough to convince Toyota.
The team quickly decided to offer Pajari more opportunities, which came as a surprise to him.
“Of course, it’s always exciting to get the chance to drive such a car. After the Finnish race, I was left with the feeling that it would be pretty cool to get to drive more in the near future,” Pajari recalls.
“I didn’t expect the opportunity to come this quickly. That’s why I’m really grateful to the team for giving me this chance.”
The gravel rally in Chile will be run as a WRC event for the third time. Last year, Pajari competed in Chile in the WRC2 category, finishing third.
“It helps that I was there last year, driving a Rally2 car. The race went well, we had good speed, and we got a solid result,” Pajari reminisces.
“Of course, it’s quite a special rally with its own unique aspects, but some of the stages are really great – a bit similar to the ones in Finland. I’m expecting it to be a fun competition.”
At Rally Finland, Pajari surprised many with his impressive pace and mature performance, even setting his first-ever fastest stage time.
Now, more is expected of Pajari in advance, but he isn’t setting specific goals for himself.
“It’s really hard to predict results for either event. The situation is quite similar to before Jyväskylä – there’s no pressure for a result. We’ll see how things go. We’ll try to drive in a way that feels good. There’s no need to push too hard, and there’s no pressure to achieve a certain result,” Pajari emphasises.
The Rally Chile will be held from September 26th to 29th.
