WRC
Pajari: Rally Islas Canarias can suit us even better
After coming closest yet to a maiden FIA World Rally Championship win in Croatia, Sami Pajari believes the asphalt roads of Rally Islas Canarias could suit him even better.
The Toyota driver appears to be edging ever closer to a breakthrough victory after finishing second in Croatia last time out. The career-best result proved bittersweet for the 24-year-old, who had led for 12 stages before a puncture and subsequent wheel change ended his hopes of a maiden win.
However, the performance confirmed Pajari has both the speed and temperament to compete at the front. It has only increased his hunger for a first WRC victory.
We were holding the lead for such a long time and then it was taken away. So there is more hunger for the coming rallies.
"To be on the podium is always nice and I have three third positions, and now a second for the first time, so of course I need to be happy about that,” said Pajari.
“At the same time though there is still some hunger left as we were holding the lead for such a long time and then it was taken away. So there is more hunger for the coming rallies.”
While Pajari showed impressive pace on Croatia’s demanding asphalt, with its multiple grip changes, the Finn believes the smoother roads in Gran Canaria could play even more to his strengths.
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Islas Canarias: it’s one of my favourite rallies,” he added.
“The character is totally different to Croatia, which is somewhere I would not have expected to do so well. Still, we managed to lead a lot of the rally and finish second there.
“On paper, I think the Canaries can suit us even better. I enjoyed the rally already last year: we had some good pace and, more generally, I think my performance on asphalt has been stronger when the roads are cleaner, even in Croatia. We have a lot of positives to take forward into the Canaries and I hope we can have an even better rally.”
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Pajari’s run of third-place finishes in Sweden and Kenya, followed by second in Croatia, has lifted him to fourth in the championship standings, 29 points behind leader and team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.
That form means Pajari will start this week’s rally high on the road order, although he does not expect road position to play a major role.
“The road position is getting better but in Canarias it shouldn't make so much difference. It should be mostly clean and the roads shouldn’t be impacted much,” he added.
