After 10 World Rally Championship rounds last year, Sami Pajari had no podiums, no wins and 56 points.
This year, he has more podiums than anyone else (seven), as many wins as anyone else (two) and three times the number of points (171).
A lot has changed in 12 months, and of course his improved experience of both his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 and the events themselves certainly helps explain why.
But following a disastrous Monte Carlo where he crashed twice in three days, his form has simply been exemplary. Could he seriously have imagined he’d have back-to-back wins and be fighting for the championship at this stage of the season and his career?
“Well, that was the dream and that was the plan,” Pajari told DirtFish. “I think there have been some signs. Of course when you are really inside your own bubble you want to also see the signs here and there, you know, to create the hope and create the target and so on.
“But I don’t know exactly what really made the main change but yeah, it has been just nice… nice to drive this year. I’ve been just enjoying and the results have been there.”
As bad a start as Monte Carlo was, it afforded Pajari the opportunity to mentally reset and he immediately scored his second WRC podium at the following round in Sweden.
The rest, as they say, was history.
Asked if anything feels different compared to last year, Pajari admitted things now feel more natural.
“I feel maybe somehow more… I don’t know how to say, simply I feel more at home, like it’s more natural, like it just… it just happens.
“And if I feel that, OK, now I will push on the next stage, it’s quite likely possible that I will manage it. So it’s not something that I take this crazy risk, but I can somehow manage it like we did also yesterday [Saturday in Finland].”
Whether Pajari can succeed Kalle Rovanperä as Finland’s next World Rally champion remains another question, but he’s already had a hand in history – securing the nation’s 200th WRC win on home soil.
