The Finnish driver was happy after the World Cup rally in Japan.
Sami Pajar (right) had a smile on his face after the World Rally Championship in Japan. PDO
Sami Pajari returned to the podium again when he was third in the World Rally Japan that ended on Sunday. The podium finish was already the fifth of the season for the Finnish driver.
The good streak that started in Sweden in February was sadly interrupted in the previous rally in Portugal, when Pajari, who was also in the fight for victory, suffered a flat tire in the last special stage of the rally and fell to seventh place.
Pajari was satisfied with the third place he now came. For Toyota, the home race was very successful anyway, when it took a quadruple victory by Elfyn Evans under. The other one was Sébastien Ogierwho was more than 12 seconds behind the winner.
– It’s always great to reach the podium, so I’m really satisfied. This was already my Fifth podium position of the season. It’s also great to see how well the whole team is doing.
An upward race
Pajari’s race was upbeat. On Friday, he couldn’t find the credit he needed for his car. Although the driving seemed to go well, the watch disagreed.
– I wasn’t at my best on Friday. There were a few special tests that Seb (Ogier) also talked about. In practice, those were the spots where he lost time in the fight for victory. They were also the same bits I was wasting time on.
– After that, Saturday and Sunday were quite good, especially Saturday. We had a really strong pace and a lot of low times. You must be really pleased with that.
Going into the final day, Pajar’s third place was firmly in the hands of the Finnish driver. There was a good 25 seconds ahead and the nearest challenger, a teammate Takamoto Katsuta was practically just as far behind.
– However, we were in such a situation that we didn’t just want to ride through Sunday for sure, but at the same time we wanted to secure a podium finish. Fortunately, we also managed to collect points from Sunday, so overall the weekend was very positive.
“I like it”
Of the three asphalt rallies of the season, Pajari achieved the same number of podium places. He was second in Croatia, third in the Canary Islands and now third in Japan.
When he was asked about the strong speed on asphalt, Pajari didn’t consider it a real surprise, but not his own special strength either.
– I have never thought that asphalt is my strongest platform. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but I still don’t see it as my particular strength. I’ve usually been reasonably good on asphalt, but I don’t consider it purely my best area.
– At the beginning of the season, there have only been a lot of asphalt rallies and few gravel races. That’s why now it seems that I’ve been particularly strong on asphalt.
– However, I don’t think that returning to gravel should be a problem. At least I hope so, Pajari pondered.
