WRC Finland 2026: Sami Pajari Warns of Rain Threat

Sami Pajari has warned that rain during Friday afternoon could significantly change the direction of WRC Finland 2026 after he completed the morning loop in third place overall.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT driver remained firmly in the fight with Sebastien Ogier and Adrien Fourmaux throughout the morning loop. Pajari sat eight seconds behind Ogier after Friday’s first full sequence of stages.

“It’s incredibly close. It’s been going quite well and the feeling is good. But it still feels like there’s just that little bit missing,” Pajari said. “We managed to set one fastest stage time, so the pace should be there. What surprised me even more is how intense the battle really is.”

Baca JugaWRC Finlandia 2026: Sami Pajari Menang SS6

Pajari believes the extremely small margins mean even one or two cautious moments can have a significant effect. He did not identify either the car or the driver as the sole source of the missing time, instead pointing to the overall package.

“You can drive a 20-kilometre stage, then be just a little too cautious in one or two corners, and that’s where the time goes. The margins are unbelievably small,” Pajari explained.

Friday morning also featured two brand-new special stages and several incidents, including Esapekka Lappi’s crash on Sydanmaa. With more stages still to come, Pajari expects conditions to become considerably more complicated if the forecast rain arrives.

“If the rain comes, especially on those new stages, it’ll be really interesting to see what happens. If the conditions become really bad, one stage could end up changing far more than the whole morning did,” Pajari said.

WRC Finland 2026 continues on Friday afternoon with six more special stages, with changing weather potentially becoming a decisive factor in Pajari’s battle against Ogier and Fourmaux.