Rally Sweden - SS14: Pajari continues to put pressure on Katsuta

Sami Pajari set a second fastest time this afternoon at the Rally Sweden, he continues to close the gap on Takamoto Katsuta for second place overall, but the Japanese driver put up a very good fight.

Published 14/02/2026 à 17:43

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Rally Sweden – SS14: Pajari continues to put pressure on Katsuta

Struggling since the start of the day, Katsuta conceded only three tenths of a second to his teammate Sami Pajari on the fourteenth special stage of the Rally from Sweden. The Japanese driver therefore maintains an 11,4-second lead over the Finn before the final stage on Saturday.

For the first stage entirely at night today (the Umeå Sprint will conclude the day from 18:05 PM), conditions improved with each run, and Pajari once again delivered a very strong performance to take the fastest time and extend his lead over Oliver Solberg. The Swede looked poised to close the gap to his teammate and challenge him for the podium at the end of Saturday, but a small mistake in SS14 dropped him back to 33,6 seconds behind Pajari.

The minor setbacks continued for Mārtiņš Sesks, who, after losing part of his front left bumper in SS12, encountered difficulties in the final kilometers, which he had to cover more slowly. However, his playful reaction at the end of the stage suggests that it was more likely a mistake by the Latvian driver and his co-driver than a genuine, insurmountable mechanical problem with the Ford Puma Rally1!