Sami Pajari led the Rally Estonia from start to finish, finishing 19.5 seconds ahead of his rivals to claim his first WRC victory. The Finnish driver set the fastest time in 12 of the 18 special stages and achieved his sixth podium finish of the season, making him the driver with the most podiums this season. Speaking to DirtFish after the race, Pajari said, ’We knew this was coming, we had no doubts; but now we’ve done it.“.
They climbed onto the roof at the finish line.
Pajari described the final moments of the race as unusual. He noted that the distance from the flying finish line to the stop control was so short that they didn't have a chance to celebratory talk with the team. "Normally you slowly make your way to the stop control, talk to the team and Marko Salminen, prepare for what's waiting for you. This time everyone was giving thumbs up, maybe we thought we'd won and we jumped onto the roof," he said.
Pajari also emphasized that the victory wasn't as easy as it seemed. “We won 12 stages, and that might have seemed dominant, but the gaps were never that big,” he explained. “Even on a nice stage win, the gap was maybe three seconds at one point. So you never had the luxury of making mistakes; you had to stay fully focused until the very last stage.”
Championship standings and Finland target
The victory in Estonia moved Pajari into third place in the championship, ahead of Sébastien Ogier. With a 33-point lead over Elfyn Evans and just 8 points ahead of Takamoto Katsuta, Pajari will prepare for Rally Finland, taking place in two weeks, with renewed momentum.
Pajari, displaying cautious optimism about the race to be held in his home country, said, “I’m really hopeful, but I also know it won’t be easy. My confidence may be boosted; however, Rally Finland is a challenge in itself. While it’s similar to Estonia, it’s a different race. I’ll do my best.”