Sami Pajari defends his place on the podium: "The battle is on"

Discreet but effective, Sami Pajari has firmly established himself on the third step of the provisional podium. Rally from Sweden, his consistency was rewarded despite the absence of a stage win. Unlike his teammate Oliver Solberg, who made several mistakes during the third stage, the Finn has indeed shown remarkable consistency since the start of the event, securing two second places and three third places.

« For the moment, it's very well controlled. Very good conditions this morning, a very good feeling with the car. But the battle has begun. says Sami Pajari at the microphone of AUTOweekly, present on site. We're catching up with Takamoto [Katsuta]. He wasn't happy on the morning loop. Oliver [Solberg] isn't far behind either. The conditions will be very different on the second loop. We have to do our best. »

Sami Pajari on a mission

On Saturday, the Finn took advantage of Takamoto Katsuta's lack of pace to close the gap in the overall standings. From 22,2 seconds behind the Japanese driver the previous day when he was leading the rally, Pajari is now only 12,9 seconds adrift of the Japanese driver after SS11, having moved back into second place behind Elfyn Evans. Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg recovered after a difficult first day and is now only 24 seconds behind Sami Pajari, whom the Swede has thus identified as his new " target ».

During the second loop on Saturday, the stakes are therefore twofold for the Finn: to keep Oliver Solberg at bay while also trying to catch Takamoto Katsuta for provisional second place. The gaps are so small. All I can do is push as hard as I can. Sami Pajari will therefore need to maintain his consistency during the last loop of the third day in order to secure his position on the podium.

Interview by Pierre Barré, special correspondent in Sweden. 

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