Sami Pajari arrived in Chile with three consecutive victories under his belt, but this time a podium finish is out of reach unless some of the leading drivers hit trouble on Sunday. The Finnish driver sits fifth ahead of Sunday’s final four special stages, more than a minute off the lead and over 50 seconds from the podium, though he is under no threat from behind.
In a mature analysis, Pajari addressed why he has been unable to find the winning pace of recent months in Chile. "That is a really good question. For some reason, we simply cannot match the best times this time. But that is how sport, and this sport in particular, can be sometimes," he said. He added that even someone who has won the world championship nine times does not win every rally, and this kind of normal variation is always part of it.
Pajari stressed that he is naturally disappointed and intends to study the data closely after the rally to establish what went wrong. "Of course, we need to take a deeper look to find out what is going on. I do not mean that there is some major problem behind it, but we need to understand where we are losing time," he summarized. "We need to learn from those things and try to be better in the future. Yesterday, we were a few seconds short of being a couple of places higher. I do not know how much of an impact the road position had."
After Thierry Neuville of Hyundai went off, Pajari was running almost at the front of the road on Saturday’s stages. "That certainly explains quite a lot. Even so, it is not an excuse. Yesterday afternoon we were already on the pace, but today we fell short," he said.
Pajari remains firmly in the championship fight, with only two rounds remaining after Chile. Fifth place does not help his situation, however – quite the opposite, as championship leader and team-mate Elfyn Evans is fighting for second. Evans has so far held a clear upper hand in Super Sunday points this season, but Pajari will have to push flat out in Chile on Sunday.
"Of course, it could be really, really decisive. I really hope we can close the points gap a little, but at the same time, you never know what will happen. The fight at the front is really close, so anything can still happen to anyone," Pajari said. "The situation is fairly straightforward, but one of the stages we will tackle is completely new to everyone and also quite challenging. Anything can happen there."
With the remaining rally stages posing a tough challenge, Pajari must stay focused and maximize every opportunity. His mature analysis reflects an understanding of the need to identify the causes of his pace loss, as well as a determination to rebound in the remaining season. Rally Chile serves as a mental and technical test for the young Finn, who still has a chance to improve his championship position if he can capitalize on the situation.
Baca Juga
Oliver Solberg menangi Rally Chile dan dapat konfirmasi WRC: dua ronde tersisa. Kemenangan ini memangkas jarak poin dari pemimpin klasemen Elfyn Evans.
Toyota juara WRC 2025 usai finis 1-2 di Rally Chili, samai rekor Lancia. Simak analisis dominasi dan reaksi Ogier di sini.
Pertarungan gelar WRC memanas setelah reli Chile. Evans masih memimpin, tapi Pajari dan Solberg semakin dekat. Simak analisis lengkap dan klasemen terbaru.
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