A small mistake nearly ruined the charge of Sami Pajari on SS13 of Rally Paraguay on Saturday (24/08/2024). The Toyota driver admitted he was lucky that a braking error did not cost him the lead.
On the second pass of the 21-kilometre Bella Vista stage, Adrien Fourmaux of Hyundai set the fastest time, 1.0s ahead of Elfyn Evans and 1.2s clear of Sebastien Ogier. However, Pajari, who had shown impressive pace, made a mistake at a junction.
"I missed my braking point for a junction and lost a few extra seconds," said Pajari. "Before that, the splits showed I was on course for the fastest time." The Finn eventually finished fourth, 1.7s behind Fourmaux.
Interestingly, Pajari credited his engineer for the advice. "Thanks to my engineer, who told me in service that I should brake later for that junction, so I tried it," he said with a laugh. After learning that the error had not cost him position against Hayden Paddon, he breathed a sigh of relief.
A close battle is unfolding for fifth place between Josh McErlean of Ford and Oliver Solberg of Toyota. McErlean still holds fifth, but his advantage has shrunk from over a minute to just 26.9s. "That was really hard on the tyres, more than I thought," McErlean said.
With four stages remaining on Saturday, Pajari leads the standings by 25.0s over Paddon. Evans is third, 54.8s behind. The rally concludes on Sunday.
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