Sami Pajari is two stages away from a maiden World Rally Championship victory after fending off Oliver Solberg on the penultimate day of Delfi Rally Estonia.
The Toyota driver, with Marko Salminen alongside, ended Saturday’s leg with a lead of 25.0 seconds over teammate Solberg, who all but conceded the fight for first place after a day in which he briefly halved the Finn’s advantage.
Pajari arrived at Saturday’s opening stage having won all seven on Friday, the first driver since Kalle Rovanpera at Rally Islas Canarias last season to sweep an opening leg, and added two more stage wins on Saturday morning before Solberg hit back.
The Swede, who scored his breakthrough WRC win at this event 12 months ago, took stages 10 and 11 to trim the gap from 17.6 seconds to 14.1 at the midday service in Tartu. Pajari’s response was emphatic, with three fastest times in the afternoon restoring and then extending his cushion.
“It’s not easy, it’s never meant to be easy, but still we are somehow quite comfortable with the lead,” Pajari said. “But it’s anyway quite many kilometres to do as well tomorrow, so it’s not too straightforward, but there was on the road section one fan with a really cool poster, which said, ‘Sami, don’t listen to Marko, send it’. So, I’m trying to follow that.”
Late scare keeps Pajari honest
The run was not without drama. Pajari clipped a rock when he almost spun near the end of SS14, and a deteriorating surface on SS15 prompted a more cautious approach through the final full stage of the day, allowing Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville to claim the rally’s first non-Toyota stage win.
Solberg conceded his teammate had the edge. “I was a bit optimistic with my tyre choice this afternoon,” he said. “The feeling with the car is good, but Sami has the very good feeling. It’s very hard for the tyres and hard to know how to rotate them. Sami is doing a great job and that’s it.”
Adrien Fourmaux survived contact with an anti-cut device and a slow puncture to hold third, just 1.9 seconds clear of Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville. Image: Red Bull Content Pool
Hyundai pair split by 1.9 seconds
Behind the Toyotas, the fight for the final podium position is alive. Adrien Fourmaux holds third despite striking an anti-cut device on SS10, which tore bodywork from his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, then suffering a slow puncture on SS11 and a wild moment on SS13.
Neuville outpaced his teammate three times in the afternoon and sits just 1.9 seconds behind after the pair set identical times on SS16.
Sebastien Ogier is fifth for Toyota after what he called a “nothing special” day, 30.1 seconds clear of championship leader Elfyn Evans, who climbed from ninth to sixth as trouble struck others. Martins Sesks holds seventh for M-Sport Ford despite tyre damage on SS9 and a 20-second penalty carried from Friday, ahead of Esapekka Lappi, Jon Armstrong and WRC2 leader Robert Virves.
Josh McErlean retired his Ford Puma Rally1 with an exhaust manifold issue after stopping on SS8, while Takamoto Katsuta, who restarted after Friday tyre damage, spent the day sweeping the road.
Two passes of the 24.39km Kaariku test, the longest of the rally, decide the winner on Sunday. The first run starts at 6:05pm AEST, with the repeat forming the Wolf Power Stage from 8:15pm AEST.
Oliver Solberg launches from the start arch in front of huge crowds, but the defending Rally Estonia winner concedes Pajari has the edge. Image: Red Bull Content Pool
Standings after SS16 of 18
Pos
Crew
Car
Time/Gap
1
Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2h 08m 34.0s
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
Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1m 32.8s
6
Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2m 02.9s
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