Toyota’s performance looks good.
Sami Pajari is hunting for profit. EPA / AOP
Sami Pajari has been in great shape in the previous races of the World Rally Championship.
After four rounds of the season, Pajar already has three podium places.
A couple of weeks ago, Toyota’s Finnish driver even drove to victory in Croatia, but an unfortunate flat tire dropped him from the top spot. However, the Finnish rider got the best result of his career in the asphalt race, a handsome second place.
Pajari, who is fourth in the World Series, goes hunting for the next top result in the Canary Islands Rally, which starts on Thursday evening. A year ago, the Toyota drivers achieved a quadruple victory in the Canary Islands.
Based on the special test run on Thursday, it could have been expected that the race will also see a fight between the Toyota drivers this time. The Toyota stars took the top five places and left the Hyundai drivers a clear distance away.
Pajar has a strong belief that he is in the top fight.
– As we saw last year, the differences can be really small here, which is why there is a different challenge here than in many other rallies. But this is one of my favorite rallies. Pätki is really enjoyable to drive, so hopefully we will do well, Pajari predicts after the test section.
– At least the car’s performance seems to be at a really good level, so it’s up to me.
Winning in mind
The biggest favorites to win the competition are Pajar’s teammates Oliver Solberg, Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans, but Takamoto Katsuta, who leads the World Series, cannot be left out of the calculations.
The opening win of his career is already burning strongly in the back of Pajar’s mind.
– I feel that we are now one step closer to that. Croatia came second and it was actually my second podium in an asphalt rally, so in that sense it should be possible, Pajari said bluntly.
– It’s not easy, that’s for sure. But we are doing our best here, he stressed.
Finnish racers are usually more comfortable in gravel races, but Pajari deviates from the blue-and-white mainstream in a certain way. The track-like asphalt roads of the Canary Islands taste better than good for him.
– Under these conditions, you can get the most out of the car’s performance. There are a lot of twisty bits here, but they’re still fun. When you get a good rhythm going with them, it’s really cool, Pajari described.
The Canary Islands World Cup Rally starts on Thursday evening with a short audience special stage, which is run at the football stadium in Las Palmas.