Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen have become WRC2 champions, beating Oliver Solberg to the title after securing second place at Rally Japan.
Pajari, who turns 23 next week, has enjoyed a superb season aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Victories in Sardinia, Poland and Greece, coupled to further podiums in Sweden, Latvia and this weekend in Japan, earned him 126 points – three more than Škoda driver Solberg whose season ended in Chile.
Arriving in Japan off the back of two back-to-back events in a Toyota Rally1 car, the Finn needed a top-two place to secure the championship in just his second full season in the category.
A puncture on Friday morning raised the heart rate, but Pajari was flawless as he settled into a comfortable second place behind runaway leader Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën).
Pajari eventually finished 1m46.5s behind his rival, but crucially with a similar advantage over third-placed Hiroki Arai he sealed the WRC2 championship.
Pajari secured the points he needed to deny Solberg the championship
“It’s a really, really nice feeling – big relief again,” Pajari grinned.
“After two days of driving a bit slowly and taking care of everything, OK… arigato to Toyota, Printsport, sponsors, family, everyone, we did it together; it’s not only me and Enni.
“I hope I can drive some rally as well next year and at least Toyota has been really reliable and fast this year, so I hope to continue on this path.”
Pajari, who won the Junior WRC in 2021, becomes just the second driver after Pontus Tidemand to claim both the JWRC and WRC2 titles.
His plans for next season are unconfirmed, but he is widely expected to be in-line for more Rally1 opportunities with Toyota.
