The brief
- What happened: Sami Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen swept all seven of Friday’s Rally Estonia stages in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. WRC’s official report puts their overnight lead at 14.7 seconds.
- Why it matters: Pajari is chasing his first overall WRC victory. He became the first driver since Kalle Rovanperä at the 2025 Rally Islas Canarias to win every stage of a WRC opening leg.
- What to watch: Defending Estonia winner Oliver Solberg is second in another Toyota, but Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux sits only 1.8 seconds behind him. Pajari has breathing room; the fight directly behind does not.
Fast context
This was not a one-stage burst protected by road order. Pajari set the pace across 103.42 competitive kilometres, winning every test as the rally moved through Estonia’s fast, committed gravel roads.
The result is the strongest Rally1 day of his career. Pajari and Salminen finished the leg in 49 minutes, 43.5 seconds, steadily stretching their margin after the tyre-fitting zone rather than relying on one mistake from a rival.
Solberg and Elliott Edmondson kept Toyota first and second, but their job was complicated by Fourmaux. The Hyundai driver survived a moment over a jump on SS2 that packed grass into the front of the i20 N, then continued to produce top-three stage times. He ended Friday 16.5 seconds off the lead.
Thierry Neuville was fourth, 24 seconds behind Pajari, with Sébastien Ogier fifth at 33.3 seconds. Championship leader Elfyn Evans paid the familiar gravel-road price of running near the front and cleaning the loose surface for those behind.
Friday supplied the perfect score, not the victory. Saturday contains nine stages and nearly 150 competitive kilometres, a longer test than the entire opening leg.
What changes next
Pajari now has to convert outright speed into control. He cannot cruise with Solberg and Fourmaux close enough to punish a puncture, but another flat-out day also increases the chance that one small landing ends the clean run.