Pajar’s good performances in the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä with a Rally1 car and in Greece in the WRC2 class gave him two additional races in the rally’s main class.
WRC2 class winner at the World Rally Championship in Greece at the weekend Sami Pajari gets behind the wheel of a Rally1 car again. Toyota announced on Wednesday that Pajari will drive the team’s number one equipment in the next two World Cup rallies in Chile and Central Europe.
Pajari got his map reader Enni Mälkönen with to try out a top-class car in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship in the summer, where the duo made it to fourth place. In the WRC2 category, Pajari has won three rally victories this year.
– After the wonderful performance we saw in the Finnish World Rally Championship, we wanted to see more of what Sami can do with the Rally1 car. The main goal in Finland was to gain experience, but he already showed his potential there. Also in Greece, he again showed the high level at which he has driven the GR Yaris Rally2 car, team manager Jari-Matti Latvala says in Toytota’s press release.
Latvala says that Toyota wants to invest in young drivers for the future. The team aims to learn from Pajar’s driving skills, first on the gravel roads of Chile and then on the asphalt of Central Europe.
Pajari is delighted to have new display positions at the top of the rally world.
– It’s great to have the opportunity to drive the GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid in two more races this season. It feels very nice that the team trusts me. The Finnish World Rally Championship was a dream come true for me, and after that, of course, I just wanted to drive the Rally1 car more and more. I would not have expected that the opportunity would come again so soon, says Pajari.
The World Rally Championship in Chile will be held from 26th to 29th. September
Updated story at 9:43 am.