The race is on: who’s going to be the next new winner in the World Rally Championship?
For a while, you’d have backed Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux without hesitation. Now with 10 WRC podiums in his career, and experience fighting for – and leading – several rounds, it’s clear he’s good enough to win. Without that one-minute time penalty for an early check-in in Saudi Arabia, he likely would have won already.
But Takamoto Katsuta notwithstanding, Sami Pajari is the driver in the ascendency just now. Back-to-back-to-back podiums in Sweden, Kenya and Croatia – with the Finn leading the latter for 11 stages – Pajari has entered the victory conversation, too.
Factoring in the performance level of his Toyota against Fourmaux’s Hyundai, Pajari might well be leading that conversation.
What gives the 24-year-old great confidence is how different his four podiums have been: technical Tarmac in Japan, snow in Sweden, the rough and tumble of Kenya and then gravelly Tarmac in Croatia.
Pajari is aiming for an 'even better' rally in Canarias than Croatia, which he led more than 50% of
What can Pajari therefore achieve on the racetrack-style stages of Rally Islas Canarias this week?
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Islas Canarias: it’s one of my favorite rallies,” he revealed.
“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.”
On a rally that should suit him better, Pajari is hoping for an even better result to match.
“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,” he continued.
“We have a lot of positives to take forward into the Canaries and I hope we can have an even better rally.”
Pajari has a fan in Kankkunen
Pajari’s boss, Juha Kankkunen, has been impressed by his young charge.
“We had a very strong performance last year, when we finished 1-2-3-4. I’m sure it could be closer between the different cars this time, like we saw in Croatia, but I’m feeling quite confident. Both Taka and Sami are driving very well at the moment with good confidence and this is a rally that can suit them,” said Toyota’s deputy team principal.
“Elfyn and Oliver both showed their speed on Sunday in Croatia, which is promising for the Canaries. We also have a certain Sébastien Ogier back with us, so I think we have good chances.”
