Sami Pajari on verge of first WRC win after dominant Rally Estonia lead

Finnish driver Sami Pajari (Toyota Yaris) ended the penultimate day of Rally Estonia, the ninth round of the World Rally Championship, in the lead, moving closer to achieving his first career victory in the WRC.

Pajari, navigated by Marko Salminen, reaches the final day of the rally with a 25-second advantage over Swedish driver Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris). Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20) holds third place, pressured by his teammate, Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20), who is just 1.9 seconds behind.

Dominant Performance on Saturday

After winning all seven stages on Friday, Pajari began the longest day of the rally — with 149.60 timed kilometers — defending a 14.7-second lead over Solberg. The Finnish driver again dominated the first two morning stages, increasing his margin to 17.6 seconds after the ninth stage.

Solberg reacted and ended Pajari's unbeaten streak by winning stages 10 and 11, reaching the intermediate service in Tartu 14.1 seconds behind the leader. However, during the afternoon, Pajari responded dominantly, adding three more stage wins and extending the gap to 25 seconds by the end of the day.

"It's not easy, it's never supposed to be easy, but still we are somehow comfortable with the lead," said Pajari, who avoided euphoria ahead of the two final stages on Sunday.

The Toyota driver admitted, however, that the day had some scary moments after hitting a stone when he nearly spun near the end of stage 14.

Solberg and Fourmaux Under Pressure

Solberg, winner of Rally Estonia last year, acknowledged that second place might be "the maximum possible given the pace" of his brand teammate.

"I was a bit optimistic with the tire choice this afternoon. It was difficult with the tires. The feeling with the car is good, but Sami has a very good feeling," said the Swede.

In the fight for the final podium spot, Fourmaux ended the day in third, despite a scare on stage 10 when he hit an anti-cut device with the right front of his Hyundai, losing part of the bodywork but avoiding serious damage. The Frenchman also suffered a slow loss of tire pressure on stage 11 and a more complicated moment on stage 13, allowing Neuville to close in. Neuville was fastest on three stages during the afternoon and reduced the gap to just 1.9 seconds.

Championship Contenders and Retirements

Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris), the reigning champion, holds fifth place after a day he described as "nothing special," while Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris), the championship leader, moved up to sixth.

Evans, who had finished the first day only in ninth, benefited from:

• Problems for Josh McErlean (Ford Puma), who stopped on stage eight with a technical issue and eventually retired due to an exhaust manifold failure
• Damage to a right front tire for Latvian Martins Sesks (Ford Puma)

Sesks, still affected by a 20-second penalty incurred on Friday for leaving service late, is seventh, 13.4 seconds behind Evans, followed by Finnish driver Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai i20) in eighth.

Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), who had retired on Friday due to tire damage, returned to the rally today but spent the day opening the road.

Final Day Preview

Rally Estonia concludes on Sunday with two passes through the Kääriku stage, 24.39 kilometers long — the longest of the rally — with the second pass serving as the power stage.