“I braked so much over the jumps because of the pain, I knew I was going to lose the powerstage I tried my best, but it was not good enough,” he said.
“I obviously had the motivation to continue, I got painkillers.”
Despite a roll that cost him almost two minutes on Saturday, championship leader Evans completed the podium in third, now leading the standings by 30 points over Pajari who moved up to second.
Back-to-back podiums – and and nine points from Super Sunday – for Solberg elevated him to fourth in the championship, 45 points adrift of Evans, while Ogier’s non-score leaves him 62 adrift.
Adrien Fourmaux was the best of the Hyundais in fourth – leading the event after Thursday’s Harju stage but dropping significant time on Friday afternoon when heavy rain affected the stages.
He also suffered a bizarre issue on the penultimate stage, when a bumble bee was trapped inside the car and distracted him.
Team-mate Thierry Neuville claimed a surprise fifth place, overhauling Takamoto Katsuta on the powerstage after the Toyota driver ran wide, hit a tree and then nudged another on the next corner.
He lost 1m31.8s on the final stage, slipping to sixth place in the event and third in the championship standings – now 41 points shy of leader Evans.