Pajari, who clinched the WRC2 championship title in the World Rally Championship, competed in the rally held at the Monza circuit with a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car. The Finnish driver was in excellent form on Saturday but had to concede ground during the evening’s final special stage.
The reason? Pajari and his new co-driver, Marko Salminen, had the wrong tyres fitted to their car.
“We received incorrect information from the weather team. We had dry-weather tyres on, but heavy rain started just as we were leaving service for the stage. It was quite a slippery ride,” Pajari chuckled afterwards while speaking to RallyJournal.com in the Monza service park.
“We lost over half a minute there, leaving us 30 seconds behind the leader. There wasn’t much to fight for today (Sunday). We just drove through the stages smartly to avoid any major damage to the car.”
Pajari’s incorrect tyre choice was an unusual error, given that the Monza Rally had a service break after each stage. All stages were run within the circuit area, meaning that there was no need to forecast the weather for a longer period or a wider region.
“When we checked the weather radar, the ground was slightly damp at the time, but it wasn’t raining yet. The assumption was that the rain wouldn’t start for at least an hour, and we’d finish the stage before it arrived. But the rain began just before we started driving. These things can happen,” Pajari explained.
Italian driver Andrea Crugnola eventually claimed victory at the Monza Rally Show, finishing ahead of Nikolay Gryazin, a familiar face from the WRC. Two-time European Rally Champion Hayden Paddon secured third place.
Pajari, who finished fifth, was 43.9 seconds behind the leader. Losing out on the top spots didn’t bother the Toyota driver much, as the event was also about entertainment – as its name suggests.
“This was a slightly more relaxed weekend. We did pretty well overall, especially on Saturday when we were leading before the final stage. That shows we performed quite well.”
“And this was a lot of fun as an event. The stages are very different from any other rally. Of course, it was also amazing to drive on Monza’s historic banked track,” Pajari said.
Next year, Pajari will compete as a full-time driver in the top tier of the World Rally Championship with Toyota’s WRC team.
