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Toyota's 24-year-old driver, Sami Pajari, is on the cusp of a remarkable maiden World Rally Championship victory after dominating Saturday's stages at Rally Estonia, the ninth round of the WRC season.
The Toyota driver will head into Sunday's final two stages with a 25-second advantage over his teammate Oliver Solberg, following another confident performance throughout the lengthy Saturday, which featured nine stages.
Pajari began the day with a 14.7-second lead over Solberg, his dominance underscored by winning all seven stages on Friday. This lead extended to 17.6 seconds as he stretched his stage-winning streak to nine before Solberg finally broke his run.
Solberg clearly felt much more comfortable behind the wheel of his Yaris Rally1 compared to Friday and managed to win stages 10 and 11, narrowing Pajari's lead to 14.1 seconds.
However, the afternoon saw a return to form for Pajari, who clocked the fastest times in the first three stages of the second loop, effectively pulling away from Solberg. Pajari ended the day having won a total of 12 out of the 16 stages contested so far.
"It's not easy, it's never been easy, but we still feel quite comfortable with the lead. However, there are quite a few kilometers tomorrow, so it's not entirely straightforward," Pajari stated. "But there was a fan on the road with a very cool poster that said: 'Sami, don't listen to Marko (Pajari's co-driver), just go for it!' So I'm trying to follow that."
Solberg revealed that the feeling in his Yaris was almost identical to what he experienced en route to his stunning maiden WRC victory in Estonia last year. However, the Monte Carlo winner admitted he was overly cautious in places and, in some instances, opted for a safer drive to avoid tire issues.
"The morning was definitely much more positive than yesterday. At least the feeling is getting better. The attack and risk-taking aren't quite there yet, and those are what you need to beat Sami, who is doing great! Perhaps the tire choice in the afternoon was optimistic, which made it difficult to push flat out," Solberg commented.
The battle for third place garnered significant attention as Hyundai teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville went head-to-head. Fourmaux held a 7.5-second lead at the start of the day, but this was whittled down to 1.9 seconds before the final stage of the day.
Neuville launched his most serious attack in Stage 15, where he shaved 4.2 seconds off Fourmaux's lead with a performance strong enough to secure his and Hyundai's first stage win of the rally. The two couldn't be separated in the day's final super special stage, with Fourmaux retaining the final podium spot heading into Sunday.
"I'm happy with the day. We had a lot of tire wear in the afternoon. I tried my best, and the stages were very enjoyable. I still want to enjoy the two big stages tomorrow," Fourmaux said.
"I'm happy with my afternoon. I'm happy with my tire choice and how I managed it," Neuville added. "Adrien was super fast, let's have fun together tomorrow and see who finishes on top."
Championship leader Elfyn Evans, who was at a disadvantage due to opening the road on Friday, headed to the service park having made the most significant progress on Saturday. The Welshman climbed from ninth to sixth place, which could prove crucial for his title fight. Ahead of him finished his Toyota teammate Sébastien Ogier.
Evans overtook Esapekka Lappi of Hyundai and Josh McErlean of M-Sport Ford to reach seventh place after the eighth stage. Evans' recovery was aided by an exhaust manifold issue that forced McErlean to retire his Ford Puma.
McErlean's teammate, Martins Sesks, also encountered problems when he suffered a front-right puncture in Stage 9, which elevated Evans to sixth place.
Sesks finished the afternoon loop in seventh, comfortably ahead of a frustrated Lappi, who failed to match the pace of his Hyundai teammates Neuville and Fourmaux.
The top 10 was rounded out by M-Sport Ford's Jon Armstrong and Estonian WRC2 leader Robert Virves, who will enter the final day with a 10.1-second lead in his class over Finland's Roope Korhonen.
The rally will conclude on Sunday with two passes of the 24.39-kilometer 'Kaariku' stage.
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