Sami Pajari won this last weekend the Paraguayan Rally, making history by being the first to add the first absolute victory to two more consecutively.
© Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images
31/08/2026
by
YEAHdream poca for Sami Pajari at the World Rally World (WRC). The new “star” of the modality won the Paraguayan Rally on the weekend that came to an end this sunday (30 august).
And it's a true historical result: after debuting in the Estonia Rally championship, the latest “Flying Finnish” has now managed to become the first to follow the first career victory with two other consecutive.
In this South American race, Sami Pajari – assisted by experienced co-pilot Marko Salminen – took command in the seventh class and no longer gave it up until the end of the 22 specials (which were 21 following the cancellation of the penultimate after an accident). Still, he just had to be the fastest in a thing to be beaten, making use of a consistent provision.
In the end, Sami Pajari finished the Paraguayan Rally with 25.8 seconds of advance for Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), being the podium closed by Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai). He followed Elfyn Evans (Toyota), the championship leader, while the title champion Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) was only 34. o after suffering two punctures and damage to the suspension.
When there's only three rally left, Elfyn Evans leads the World Cup with 216 points – only 20 more than Sami Pajari. The third ranked Oliver Solberg (Toyota), at 41 points.
Who's Sami Pajari?
Sami Pajari© Federico Manoni/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Currently at the age of 24, Sami Pajari reached the panorama of the World Rally in 2019 with his first participation in the Junior WRC – where he became champion in 2021.
He was then WRC3's runner-up in 2022, a year in which he also debuted in the WRC2 class. In this, he remained until he was a champion in 2024, in addition to making three appearances in the main category.
Last year, Sami Pajari definitely went up to the WRC, where he noticed: it was a constant presence in the top ten and added a podium to finish the championship in eighth.
Now, at this time, the Nordic is confirming himself in the elite of the world rally: in the 11 races already contested, only failed the podium three times and was only not in the top four in the Monte Carlo Rally (abandoned) and in Portugal (was seventh).