WRC
Pajari hoping for ‘small piece of luck’ in WRC title decider
Sami Pajari is focused on delivering the “best job” he can to claim a maiden FIA World Rally Championship title, but admits a “small piece of luck” may be needed at this week’s Rally Italia Sardegna.
Pajari heads into the season finale as the closest challenger to championship leader and Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans, trailing the Welshman by 17 points. Fellow Toyota driver Oliver Solberg completes the three-way title fight, sitting a further four points adrift following his victory at Rally Chile Biobío.
With 35 points available in Sardegna, Pajari must outscore Evans by at least 18 points to move ahead of his team-mate. Despite the task facing him, the Finn insists he has no plans to change his approach.
“It’s really nice to be in the fight for the championship with only one rally to go, and I’m looking forward to it. I just need to do the best that I can, like in every single rally, so nothing really changes on my side. The gaps closed up between the top three in Chile but Elfyn still has the advantage in the points; anything is still possible and we’ll focus on doing what we can,” said Pajari.
Sardegna brings the curtain down on a breakthrough season for the 24-year-old, who has been one of the championship’s most consistent performers. He has finished inside the top seven on 11 of the 12 rounds held so far, a run highlighted by a remarkable hat-trick of victories.
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After claiming his maiden WRC triumph in Estonia, Pajari followed it with wins in Finland and Paraguay, becoming the first driver in championship history to take his first three victories on consecutive events. He has also recorded more wins and podium finishes than any of his title rivals this season.
While determined to continue that form in Italy, Pajari hopes the championship will ultimately be settled by a straight fight on the stages.
“We are well in the fight and so of course it is not the best position. We are quite many points still behind Elfyn and of course the road position is tricky, but it's another thing. We are all very close to each other fighting for the win," said Pajari.
“I hope we can have a good race and hopefully not too many issues for any one of us. Hopefully we can decide the winner by pure driving but you never know.
“It is a tricky rally and I really like it here. It is very tricky and we have seen many times that there can be some tyre issue or other things can go wrong so it is normally not too straightforward. But I hope we can do the best job we can with my driving and with the car but also we need to have this small piece of luck for our side.”
The 17-stage season finale gets underway with Thursday’s shakedown before crews tackle the Ittiri Arena Show super special stage that evening.
