An emerging Finnish talent rolling the dice on the main stage. Sound familiar? Sound like the story Sami Pajari wants to tell this week? It’s been told before. And in some fashion.
You could reach here for Kyösti Hämäläinen being handed Boreham’s test Ford Escort RS1800 and using it to win the 1977 1000 Lakes. But probably the bigger story is the one from 30 years ago – when Tommi Mäkinen stepped aboard a Group A Ford Escort Cosworth originally intended for Miki Biasion. The Italian was out for the event, and the Finn was in.
“That was a tough time,” Mäkinen told DirtFish. “I was driving in front-wheel-drive cars and it was hard to see a way forward with WRC. I made one last chance to rent an Escort [Cosworth]. Then I got the news that I was in factory car. Incredible. It was incredible chance.”
Mäkinen tested the Boreham Escort briefly, then took it to the Mänttä Rally – then the traditional pre-1000 Lakes warm-up – and beat reigning world champion Juha Kankkunen’s Toyota Celica.
“Juha was the main guy then,” said Mäkinen. “After I won this [Mänttä] Rally, I was thinking something could happen on 1000 Lakes, but Juha was tough to beat.
“I felt good coming to the event. On the night before, I went home to Puuppola and went to the sauna next to lake. I was calm, just going through the stages in my mind.”
Ultimately, the contest was run as early as the second stage, Lankamaa, when Juha rolled and Ari Vatanen hit a rock.
“Everything was going well for us,” said Mäkinen. “We had one spin when we were lucky not to hit anything. We were leading before that, but that dropped us behind Didier [Auriol]. I was lucky in the next one when the pipe from the turbo came off on the road section after the stage. If this was in the stage, we would not have won.”
Still fighting with Auriol, Mäkinen sealed his success with a stellar run through the final morning.
“I felt I was able to control the speed,” he said. “I was a little bit nervous, but I knew I could speed up or slow down if I needed to do it. To win this rally was a big thing for me, very big thing. It changed everything. Without that drive, maybe it could have been tough – but then I was talking a lot with Mitsubishi.
“I liked the Escort and I have good memories for that rally. It started my career in world championship.”
Will Finland be telling a similar story this week? Stay tuned to DirtFish to follow Pajari’s progress aboard a works Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 to find out.
