Context is key in the World Rally Championship.
While on paper a third place finish is the same for anyone, it’s a far greater triumph for a driver learning like Josh McErlean than it would be for a multiple world champion such as Sébastien Ogier.
Ogier’s Toyota team-mate, Sami Pajari, belongs to the former category. But it was easy to forget that last year when he stormed to the fastest time on just his ninth stage in a Rally1 car.
The Finn’s run at Rally Finland last August was the first of eventually three further outings in a top car in 2024, and the other side of a WRC2 title claimed in Japan, Pajari finds himself as a full-time Rally1 driver in 2025.
But with just six points to his name and a best finish of seventh, it’s been far from an electric start.
To be expected? Probably, considering how inexperienced he is. Yet somehow it feels like a disappointing return.
Pajari's shown his speed at times so far in 2025, but it's not been as eye-catching as Finland last year
With the quality of his performance on debut, Pajari has increased external expectations to the point where they’re almost unrealistic.
“I think the feeling is only gaining all the time simply. Yeah… I think Finland was basically a bit too good in that sense,” Pajari admitted to DirtFish.
“Like, OK, we did the one fastest stage time and to be fourth overall at the finish, that was like… maybe we set the boundary quite high, at least also for the other people.
“So maybe people are expecting: OK, he was fourth on the first event, so what will happen in the future?”
In that context, a retirement from Monte Carlo and seventh in Sweden (after hitting a snowbank and knocking a tire off the rim) feels like a fall from grace. But in reality, that’s more in-line with what should realistically be expected from a learner.
“I’m trying to still have their feet on the ground, not to expect too much,” Pajari added.
“Like we saw here [in Sweden], sometimes if the conditions and the car setup and everything is fine, then we can be in the top three on the stage times. That was for me, personally, nice to see.
Pajari warns "it will still take some time" for him to deliver complete performances
“But of course, it needs many things that you can put the whole weekend together and get the perfect result. So it’s safe to say it will still take some time. But of course, rally by rally, it is only getting better.”
So what can we expect from Pajari at Safari Rally Kenya – a rally he has only ever previously done the recce for?
“I must say that it will be, most likely, a really, really exciting and interesting event,” he said.
“It’s my first time doing the event but OK I was there last year for the recce, so to have some base idea how the stages are looking [is helpful].
“But of course it will be a full new challenge to go there for the first time with a rally car. Yeah, again some very different events [to start the season], like the first Monte Carlo, now Sweden, and then to go over to Kenya, it’s again a big challenge.
“It’s very different to these other rallies, but also for me as a person.”
