We’ve heard from the hunted. We know what Elfyn Evans has to do to wear this year’s drivers’ crown. But what about the hunters? What about Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg?
The Finn and the Swede are 17 and 21 points behind Evans arriving onto the island. Pajari has won three of the last four WRC rounds, while Solberg has finished first or second on three of the last four. Clearly, Toyota’s two twentysomethings are on form, but can they bridge the gap and snatch the title away from the Welshman?
Pajari: “It’s really nice to be in the fight for the championship with only one rally to go, and I’m looking forward to it. I just need to do the best that I can, like in every single rally, so nothing really changes on my side.
“The gap’s closed up between the top three in Chile, but Elfyn still has the advantage in the points; anything is still possible and we’ll focus on doing what we can.
“Sardinia is a rally that I normally like a lot. The stages are quite twisty and most of them are pretty narrow, but I’ve been able to do quite well there in the past. Now we’re going at a different time of year, but I don’t expect it to affect the nature of the rally too much, even if the temperatures may not be quite as high as usual.”
Of the three, Solberg’s title shot is the longest and that’s reflected in a slightly more aggressive approach.
“The championship has looked like a long shot for us at times this year, but we never gave up,” said the winner of the last round in Chile. “It was great to get back into the fight with our result in Chile and go into this last rally with a shot at the title.
“It’s a big gap to Elfyn to try to close in one rally, but we will give it everything of course, and in a rally like Sardinia, anything can still happen. The stages are challenging, with fast sections where you need good commitment, as well as more technical parts where you have to be more patient.
Pajari has one very small advantage over his rivals: he has one more victory this season than Evans and Solberg, which could help settle a tiebreak scenario
“I don’t have so much experience there, especially in the top category, but we had a good run to win the Rally2 class last year and we just have to aim for the top step once more and see what happens.”
And what about the boss? What does Jari-Matti Latvala think? Predictably, the Finn is chuffed at having nailed down a seventh manufacturers’ championship in nine years, but what about the drivers’ title?
Latvala said: “It’s going to be very special to go to Sardinia with three of our crews fighting to become world champion for the first time. For our team, the most important thing is to provide them all with a strong and reliable car so that they can have an even fight.
“We know that Sardinia can be a rough rally with a lot of rocks, so it can be hard for the tires and the drivers will need to calculate the risks they take. Elfyn has driven another great season as we have come to expect from him, and while he may have the most difficult position opening the road in Sardinia, he also has a lot of experience he can rely on in this situation.
“Sami has grown a lot during this year, and Oliver has bounced back strongly to stay in the fight, and it’s an exciting opportunity for both of them to challenge for a title for the first time. We’re looking forward to a fair fight and a fitting finale for our GR Yaris Rally1 car.”
