Toyota driver Sami Pajari delivered the most impressive drive of his World Rally Championship Rally1 career to date to lead Rally Estonia after winning all seven of Friday’s stages.
Pajari, searching for maiden WRC win produced a perfect Friday, which resulted in a 14.7s lead over team Oliver Solberg.
Pajari had already set the joint-fastest time in shakedown before going on to sweep the opening three stages to move into a 4.1s lead over Solberg by the time the crews headed to a remote midpoint tyre fitting zone.
Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
The 24-year-old was clearly in the zone and enjoying his driving on the challenging fast gravel stages that require complete commitment.
Pajari looked completely at ease as he simply couldn’t be beaten across the second pass through the gravel stages. The Toyota driver then added further gloss by winning the asphalt super special, stage seven,
becoming the first driver to win every stage of a WRC leg since Kalle Rovanperä at the Canary Islands Rally last year.
“Obviously the feeling is really good and the result is really great but for me what is more important somehow is the feeling behind the wheel,” said Pajari.
Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
“The feeling has been really great and the driving has been flowing naturally and I don’t feel like pushing or taking some risks. Of course, we are pushing and close to the limit but we didn’t have any crazy moments so it all feels under control. It is a super nice feeling.
“Maybe this is why I’m not smiling more than this because I know it is only the Friday done, and there are two really long days to go. I hope we can carry on with the same rhythm and there is no room to back off yet.
“I think after three or four stage wins we started to think about it [the clean sweep] so we decided to take it.”
Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Solberg, who banked his breakthrough WRC victory on Estonia’s gravel fixture 12 months ago, was unable to find the same feeling he had in his GR Yaris that propelled him to that memorable win.
“We’re P2, not crazy far off the lead. I’m not dissatisfied but I have very high expectations of what feeling I want to have with my driving, with the car, and so on. When the feeling is not there, like last year, then for sure I’m not satisfied,” Solberg told Autosport.com.
“I think it’s 50% probably my driving, not feeling it, I’m a little bit tense, and then also I think a bit of the feeling with the car, not 100% confident in it. So small things.”
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux headed Hyundai’s charge in what was an impressive display from the Frenchman to hold third [+16.5s]. After a moment over a jump on stage two that left grass lodged in the front of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, the incident did little to trouble Fourmaux, who posted a succession of top-three stage times to end the day 1.8s behind Solberg.
Thierry Neuville ensured there were two Hyundais in the top four with the 2024 world champion completing Friday with a 9.3s margin over reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier. Neuville reported understeer issues and a general lack of balance throughout the day.
“I expected more. The car felt brilliant in testing, but today I couldn’t find any of that. I’m disappointed obviously, that I couldn’t find the feeling,” said Neuville.
Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Takamoto Katsuta’s championship hopes suffered a blow when his front left tyre exploded in stage six while sitting in sixth. The Japanese driver lost more than a minute before retiring because he no longer had enough usable tyres to continue. Katsuta will now face the disadvantage of starting first on the road on Saturday.
“What can we do? On a long long straight, straight away the tyre is exploding,” said Katsuta, who is 11 points behind Elfyn Evans in the championship standings. “What can I do? It was so so dangerous! I nearly had a massive massive crash. I can not believe it! This is so bad.”
M-Sport-Ford’s Martins Sesks bounced back after receiving a 20-second penalty for being two minutes late out of service following an off in shakedown. The Latvian delivered an inspired drive in stage six to climb from 10th to sixth.
Jon Armstrong, Shane Byrne, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1
Photo by: M-Sport
“Well – this day was good. It was a great push. Thanks to the team for the day and we did a great job definitely,” said Sesks.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, making his first WRC start since Safari Rally Kenya in March, cut a frustrated figure for much of the day, before late set up change unlocked pace from his i20 N Rally1 to rise to seventh.
Josh McErlean produced another impressive drive to put his M-Sport Ford Puma in eighth ahead of championship leader Evans, who was delayed by sweeping the gravel roads.
Jon Armstrong rounded out the top 10 having lost 31s with front-left tyre damage on the opening stage following a heavy landing over a jump. The puncture damaged the front wing of the car which triggered an ingenious fix from co-driver Shane Byrne.
“We tried to make a wing out of our radiator blank cover that we use on road sections. We just used that and wrapped it around where the wing was missing and used some duct tape to try and hold it there,” said Armstrong.
“It stayed there the whole day, although we used a lot of duct tape. It stayed there for the whole day, so it was pretty cool. Obviously you lose a little bit of performance with that, but I think the good thing was we didn’t lose the corner of the front splitter, so we still had quite a lot of downforce. It was a bit disappointing that we got that puncture from a jump landing.”
| 1 |  S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 |
5 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | ||||
| 2 |  O. Solberg  E. Edmondson Toyota Racing |
99 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 14.7 | |||
| 3 |  A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai Motorsport |
16 | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 1.8 | |||
| 4 |  T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai Motorsport |
11 | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 7.5 | |||
| 5 |  M. Sesks
R. Francis M-Sport |
22 | Ford Puma Rally1 | 0.7 | |||
| 6 | S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota Racing |
1 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 8.6 | |||
| 7 | E. Lappi
E. Mälkönen Hyundai Motorsport |
4 | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 13.2 | |||
| 8 |  J. McErlean E. Treacy M-Sport |
55 | Ford Puma Rally1 | 0.1 | |||
| 9 | E. Evans S. Martin Toyota Racing |
33 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3.2 | |||
| 10 | J. Armstrong
S. Byrne M-Sport |
95 | Ford Puma Rally1 | 14.5 | |||
| 11 |
R. Virves J. Viilo Toksport WRT |
23 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 1’40.5 | |||
| 12 | T. Suninen
J. Hussi |
21 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 2.5 | |||
| 13 |
R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Rautio Motorsport |
20 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 2.5 | |||
| 14 |
J. Vaher R. Jansen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG |
36 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 2.4 | |||
| 15 | E. Lindholm
G. Morales Toksport WRT |
25 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 0.4 | |||
| 16 |
M. Heikkilä K. Temonen |
37 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 2.5 | |||
| 17 |
P. Enok S. Simm Printsport |
38 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 3.0 | |||
| 18 |
T. Kauppinen S. Virtanen Rautio Motorsport |
42 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 1.5 | |||
| 19 |  R. Jürgenson S. Oja M-Sport |
35 | Ford Fiesta Rally2 | 10.9 | |||
| 20 |
M. Johansson J. Grönvall |
31 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 1.6 | |||
| 21 |
J. Ralf Nõgene A. Lesk |
41 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 2.0 | |||
| 22 |
L. Joona A. Linnaketo |
28 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 4.0 | |||
| 23 |
K. Martin Volver A. Sõna |
40 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 1.1 | |||
| 24 |
F. Zaldívar |
24 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 0.6 | |||
| 25 |
Y. Yamamoto |
29 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 9.6 | |||
| 26 | G. Greensmith J. Andersson |
26 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 8.4 | |||
| 27 |
G. Trentin P. Elia Ometto MT Racing SRL |
32 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 28.8 | |||
| 28 |
T. Matsushita P. Kelander Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG |
43 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 3.5 | |||
| 29 |
S. Goto J. Lindberg Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG |
44 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 16.7 | |||
| 30 |
U. Aava S. Kütt RedGrey Team |
59 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 8.3 | |||
| 31 | A. Pelamourgues B. Pouget |
30 | Hyundai i20 N Rally2 | 54.8 | |||
| 32 |
T. Abramowski |
50 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 59.5 | |||
| 33 |
J. Nikara T. Maekawa Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG |
54 | Renault Clio Rally3 | 38.2 | |||
| 34 |
K. Yanaguida J. Koski-Lammi Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG |
49 | Renault Clio Rally3 | 5.0 | |||
| 35 |
N. Otto H. Magalhães |
57 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 2’10.0 | |||
| 36 |
E. Unt A. Vahtra |
62 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 0.7 | |||
| 37 |
U. Soylu A. Yalçın Mehmet WRC Masters Cup |
46 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 23.2 | |||
| 38 |
J. Keferbock I. Minor WRC Masters Cup |
45 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 1’11.7 | |||
| 39 |
K. Kazaz C. Silvestre Team Petrol Ofisi |
53 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 1.6 | |||
| 40 |
L. Hoelbling F. Fiorini |
61 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 1.8 | |||
| 41 |  T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota Racing |
18 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 30.9 | |||
| 42 |
M. Andre Martinez M. Aranguren |
58 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 22.8 | |||
| 43 |
T. Pärs A. Heina |
64 | Peugeot 208 Rally4 | 1’36.2 | |||
| 44 |
I. Hatanmaa D. Kammersgaard |
60 | Ford Fiesta Rally3 | 59.6 | |||
| 45 |  B. Ten Brinke
T. Woodburn |
34 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 4’34.4 | |||
| 46 |
E. Kaur E. Veltson |
39 | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | 3’23.8 | |||
| 47 |
M. Karppanen K. Pereläinen |
63 | Renault Clio Rally3 | 31.9 | |||
| 48 |
J. Solans R. Sanjuan PH.Ph |
27 | Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 | 29’48.3 |
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– The Autosport.com Team
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