Sami Pajari extended his lead over Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Oliver Solberg on the longest day of Rally Estonia, closing Saturday 25 seconds clear at the head of a team one-two. With one day left, the Finn is now within reach of his first FIA World Rally Championship victory. Toyota also fills four of the top six places heading into Sunday’s finale.

Sami Pajari heads into the final day of Rally Estonia in command, having stretched his advantage over Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team team-mate Oliver Solberg across nine stages and 149.6 competitive kilometres on Saturday.

A morning duel, an afternoon breakaway

Pajari picked up where he left off on Friday, when he had topped all seven stages. He was quickest through the first pass of Peipsiääre and Mustvee before Solberg hit back, taking both tests on their second run to keep the gap at just over 14 seconds by mid-day service in Tartu.

The afternoon belonged to Pajari. Three consecutive stage wins pushed his lead out to 25 seconds by the end of the day, a margin the team says brings him a step closer to a maiden WRC win. Solberg’s early pace was enough to open more than 25 seconds over the chasing Hyundai pair of Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville, who sit third and fourth.

Toyota packs the top six

Sébastien Ogier holds a steady fifth, now joined by Elfyn Evans in sixth. Freed from sweeping loose gravel as first car on the road on Friday, championship leader Evans found stronger pace and gained three places over the day’s opening two stages before spending the afternoon trialling setups ahead of the finale and the upcoming Rally Finland. Takamoto Katsuta, who stopped late on Friday with tyre damage, ran first on the road all day and used the runs to test settings, sitting well down the order in 26th.

“This was another really impressive day from Sami. He looks really comfortable with the car and the speed has been coming very naturally, without him having to push too hard or take massive risks,” said deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen. “With 10 points available and the speed that he has, I see no reason to back off.”

Pajari was measured about the job still to do. “It’s been another really good day. Again I had a really great feeling with the car,” he said. “Now we just need to bring it home tomorrow. We don’t know exactly what the weather will be like – the forecast suggests it could be tricky.”

Solberg was gracious in defeat. “This afternoon we were maybe a bit optimistic going with a full set of soft tyres and it didn’t pay off,” he said. “Sami has done an incredible performance so hats off to him.”

Support classes and rookies

In WRC2, GR Yaris Rally2 drivers Roope Korhonen and Teemu Suninen remain locked in a close fight for second and third, both just over 10 seconds off the class lead. Home hope Jaspar Vaher’s category debut ended when he went off the road in SS8 from fourth, and Yuki Yamamoto crashed out in SS15, while Japanese rookies Takumi Matsushita and Shotaro Goto continued to bank experience.

What’s next

Two passes of the 24.39 km Kääriku stage — the rally’s longest — close the event on Sunday. The second run doubles as the Power Stage, offering up to five bonus points for the fastest times alongside five more from the Super Sunday classification.

Facts: Rally Estonia after Day 2

  • 1. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h08m34.0s
  • 2. Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +25.0s
  • 3. Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +52.1s
  • 4. Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +54.0s
  • 5. Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m32.8s
  • 6. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m02.9s

The rally concludes on Sunday. (Results as of 22:30 Saturday; latest standings at www.wrc.com.)

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu