Pajari pounces on WRC2 rival Virves in Greece

Virves held a slim 1.5sec advantage entering this penultimate leg and, after nearly 50km of competitive action this morning, the gap had only increased to 3.9sec.

However, it was Pajari's commanding run through Aghii Theodori (SS10) that proved pivotal. On a softer road surface compared to the earlier stages, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 star outpaced Virves by 16.4sec, propelling himself into the lead.

A puncture on the repeat pass through Aghii Theodori further prevented any hopes of a comeback from Virves and, by the day's close, the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver found himself trailing Pajari by 27.8sec.

“They are really rough conditions out there,” said Pajari, who currently sits second in the WRC2 championship standings behind the absent Oliver Solberg. “It’s like a proper sauna inside the car, and a bit dusty as well. It’s starting to feel like a real sport, I would say.”

Meanwhile, Yohan Rossel, who lost over two minutes to a wheel change whilst leading on Friday, mounted an impressive comeback. The Citroën C3 Rally2 ace fought his way up to third, clocking four fastest times across the day to finish 26.4sec behind Virves.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz ended fourth in his Škoda, passing both Fau Zaldivar and Nikolay Gryazin after dropping behind the pair early in the day. Zaldivar was forced to stop for a wheel change on SS11 and dropped to sixth behind Georg Linnamäe, while Gryazin’s rally came to an abrupt end on SS10 with a broken driveshaft on his Citroën.

Pajari also led the WRC2 Challenger category while Armin Kremer extended his lead in the WRC Masters Cup, with the German driver poised to wrap up the title on Sunday assuming he maintains position.