Pajari holds on for WRC3 glory

The 20-year-old moved to the top of the leaderboard when Lauri Joona picked up a puncture on Friday morning and led the all-Ford Fiesta Rally3 field all the way to the finish.. 

Pajari ended the penultimate day over a minute clear despite nursing a rear differential issue during the afternoon. He then more than doubled that advantage on Sunday as Joona backed off in wet conditions. 

The Finn arrived at the finish 2min 15.7sec clear of his compatriot and extended his championship lead to 26 points in the process.

“It feels great to win here with so many Finns here and so much loving support and it helped our championship fight too" said an elated Pajari. 

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver William Creighton filled the final podium spot another 1min 30.6sec behind, with Mcrae Kimathi taking fourth overall. 

Championship debutant Roope Korhonen completed the leaderboard. He was sidelined by power steering issues on Friday morning but recovered to chalk up 10 impressive stage wins.