Sami Pajari is the hottest driver in the World Rally Championship right now. Two consecutive wins at Rally Estonia and Rally Finland have slashed the gap to championship leader Elfyn Evans to just 30 points. But talk of a title challenge won't change his approach ahead of this week's Rally del Paraguay.
"Of course, it's nice to be in the mix," Pajari told DirtFish. "Once again I will do the best I can when we go to Paraguay and all the rest of the races. For me, the fact that we are in a way fighting for the World championship title is not really changing anything. It's always that I do the best job I can and it doesn't really matter where I am doing it or what race it is."
Evans holds a near one-rally lead over the chasing pack, but is wary of the effect of running first on the road – a certainty in Paraguay and very likely in Chile given his current points advantage. Asked if he could 'manage' his points lead over Pajari for the remaining four rounds, Evans replied: "I don't think so."
"The reality is that you're on gravel to begin with and we've seen when the road cleaning is at its worst that you're at the back, aren't you? That's the reality, it doesn't matter what you do in some of the rallies. For me, it's just going to be a case of going to the rally like I was going into Portugal and just continue to do the best until the end," he added.
Meanwhile, Takamoto Katsuta briefly led the standings after Croatia in April, but now sits 41 points adrift following a double puncture in Estonia and a misted windscreen in Finland. Despite the setback, the two-time WRC winner isn't giving up hope.
"Elfyn did a really good job, and also Sami did a good job, so now we are third in the championship," said Katsuta. "At the same time, it's still a long season. It's quite far to Elfyn of course, but we have still three or four rallies, which is also all gravel rallies. So I think still there is a chance always. Anything can happen in rally, so just keep pushing, keep trying and see what I can do."
With 140 points still up for grabs, the fight is far from over. Oliver Solberg is 45 points behind in fourth, Sebastien Ogier trails by 62 and is committed to all remaining rounds, while Adrien Fourmaux leads Hyundai's charge, 72 points off the top.
Baca Juga
Sami Pajari tetap tenang menatap peluang gelar WRC meski dua kemenangan beruntun mendekatkannya ke pemuncak klasemen Elfyn Evans. Evans justru khawatir dengan posisi pembuka jalan di gravel.
Oliver Solberg siap tampil agresif di reli Paraguay yang liar. Dua podium beruntun jadi modal, adaptasi dengan Toyota Rally1 jadi kunci sukses.
Sebastien Ogier siap comeback di Reli Paraguay setelah kecelakaan besar di Finlandia. Targetnya kemenangan demi membantu Toyota amankan gelar konstruktor.
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