Sami Pajari has just etched his name into the World Rally Championship history books. The young Finn has become the first driver in WRC history to win his first three career rallies back-to-back, following up victories in Estonia and Finland with a stunning win at Rally del Paraguay.
This triumph completes a remarkable hat-trick within just six weeks, a feat that even he finds hard to believe.
“It’s a really proud moment, I’m really happy,” said Sami Pajari at the finish. “I don’t know how we are on the points but we’re still trying to do the best we can, which is also not going too bad at the moment. So happy for that. It’s still a lot of points but I hope we have three rallies left, so anything is possible. We just need to keep pushing.”
A manic Friday, featuring punctures and delaminations for most drivers, played into Pajari’s hands. He took the lead when championship leader Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture on SS7. Hayden Paddon had been the early leader but also fell back after a puncture on SS6. Nevertheless, Paddon held second place all the way to the finish, a sweet podium on his first gravel outing for Hyundai in the Rally1 era.
The victory moves Pajari to within 20 points of Evans in the title race. Evans could only salvage two points from the powerstage and two more for being fourth-fastest across Sunday’s stages. Meanwhile, Adrien Fourmaux fought back strongly after a double delamination on SS7, taking more stage wins than anyone else and snatching third from Evans on the final day.
“It’s been an incredible weekend,” said Fourmaux. “I think we deserved the win but to be 1m50s out of the win on Friday night and coming back to less than 50s, is something unbelievable. What a weekend. It’s a shame for the tires but at the same time it was a very good fight for us to come back, I really pushed myself to the last bit.”
Evans lost 10 points to Pajari and admitted he didn’t have the right feeling to push and keep Fourmaux behind on the last two days. “The weekend started pretty well but didn’t settle into a better rhythm after that,” said Evans. “Not happy really.”
Oliver Solberg rounded out the top five and won the powerstage, missing out on a perfect Sunday on a tiebreak with Sebastien Ogier, who took maximum Sunday points by winning the day’s opening stage. Josh McErlean equalled his career-best result despite technical issues on the final day.
“I feel we were really unlucky with small details on Friday that really cost us something to fight for,” said Solberg, referencing his engine cutting out multiple times and a puncture stop. “But anyway, it’s been a great weekend with so many positives.”
Read Also
Takamoto Katsuta mundur dari Rally Paraguay setelah kecelakaan besar di SS21, kecelakaan keduanya di akhir pekan. Insiden ini mengubah peta persaingan dan memberi peluang bagi Evans di Power Stage.
M-Sport alami masalah di Paraguay: Armstrong rusak suspensi, McErlean kendala teknis. Fourmaux naik ke P3, Pajari tetap pimpin reli.
Sami Pajari memimpin WRC Rally Paraguay dengan 26,1 detik atas Paddon, sementara Ogier memimpin Super Sunday. Tiga stage tersisa.
Continue with Google
Discussion (0)
Join the Discussion!
Sign in easily to start commenting, replying, and interacting with other readers.
Latest Comments
No comments yet. Be the first!