Sami Pajari Secures Maiden WRC Victory in Estonia

Sami Pajari (Toyota Yaris) secured a historic victory at Rally Estonia this Sunday, marking his maiden win in the premier category of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The 24-year-old Finn, co-driven by Marko Salminen, dominated the event, completing all 18 special stages in 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 16.5 seconds.

Behind Pajari, Sweden's Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris) claimed second place, 19.5 seconds adrift, while Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20) rounded out the podium, 53.8 seconds behind the winner. Pajari's triumph was built on a commanding performance, particularly on Friday, when he swept all seven stages of the day.

Despite Solberg's fightback on Saturday, which saw him break Pajari's winning streak on stages 10 and 11, the young Finn immediately responded with more stage wins, entering the final day with a comfortable 25-second lead. On Sunday, Pajari expertly managed his advantage over the two passes through Kääriku, the rally's longest stage at 24.39 kilometers, to seal his victory.

“It’s absolutely incredible. Maybe I haven’t fully grasped what I’ve just achieved,” stated Sami Pajari, who extended his gratitude to his team, family, friends, and sponsors. In a curious aside, he added: “Last but not least, I want to thank myself for not giving up, for trying one more time. We knew this was coming, there was no doubt, but now we’ve done it. So, it feels good.”

Oliver Solberg, for his part, finished the rally strongly, winning the power stage and accumulating maximum points on Super Sunday, but his efforts weren't enough to unseat Pajari. “It was undoubtedly a very good weekend, I have to be satisfied. [...] I didn’t have the full confidence to truly push to 100 percent, like Sami did, and he deserves this,” acknowledged the son of former world champion Petter Solberg.

In an internal Hyundai battle, Adrien Fourmaux held onto third place, finishing ahead of teammate Thierry Neuville, who took fourth, 59.9 seconds back. Reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) finished fifth, 1 minute and 31.3 seconds behind, admitting he was never in contention for a podium spot. “We did what we could, and I think we weren’t bad in terms of performance,” commented the Frenchman.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota Yaris) of Wales finished sixth but managed to extend his lead in the World Championship, increasing his advantage over Japan's Takamoto Katsuta to 25 points. With this result, Sami Pajari climbed to third place in the overall standings.

Pajari's victory makes him the sixth different winner in nine events this season and means that all Toyota drivers have now won a WRC stage in 2026. The next event on the calendar is Rally Finland, scheduled from July 30th to August 2nd.