With three WRC2 victories to their name this year – including last week’s WRC Acropolis Rally Greece in tough and demanding conditions – Sami Pajari and Enni Malkonen have been handed the keys to the GR Yaris Rally1 for WRC Chile at the end of September, and the all-tarmac WRC Central European Rally in October.
Pajari and Malkonen made a strong impression on their Rally1 debut in Finland, ending in fourth position overall and taking their first stage win at the sport’s top level.
On the basis of these latest impressive performances, TGR-WRT has decided to present Pajari with the chance to further test his skills in the top category, as part of its belief and commitment in developing young talent on different roads around the world.
The 22-year-old has been brought into the team’s four-car line-up for the South American event and will join Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier in action as TGR attempts to close down the 35 points gap to Manufacturers’ Championship rivals Hyundai.
Takamoto Katsuta will return to the team’s line-up for the rest of the season at the Central European Rally and his home event, Rally Japan. The team continues to give Katsuta, as well as co-driver Aaron Johnston, its full support and hopes this short break in an intense and competitive season can provide an opportunity to reset and come back stronger.
At the Central European Rally on October 17-20, the team’s full line-up will comprise of Evans, Ogier, Katsuta and Pajari taking on the challenging and varied tarmac roads in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.
TGR-WRT Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala said: “After the great performance that Sami Pajari showed at Rally Finland, we wanted to see more of what he can do in a Rally1 car. The main goal in Finland was to gain experience, but he already demonstrated his high potential. In Greece too, he again showed the high level he’s been driving at with the GR Yaris Rally2 car. As we look to invest further in talented young drivers for the future, it’s important to learn more about Sami’s abilities, firstly on some different gravel roads on the other side of the world in Chile, and then on asphalt in Central Europe. He will be driving a fourth car, so there is no pressure upon him to contribute towards the championship. For us it’s more about investing in the future and gaining that experience. For Taka, it has been a tough season, but he has the full support of the team and everybody knows that he has the speed. With this break, he has a chance to reset and recharge ready for the last two events which will be important – especially Rally Japan of course, where we hope he can be fighting for the podium places again.”
The up-and-coming Finn added : “It is amazing to have this chance to drive the GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid on two more events this season. It feels really nice to know that TGR-WRT is putting this trust in me. Rally Finland was like a dream come true for me, and after that of course I just wanted to drive a Rally1 car more and more, but I could not have expected that the opportunity would come again so soon. I’m really looking forward to Rally Chile, with some nice gravel roads that are mostly flowing and high-speed, so a bit similar to Finland. Central Europe can be even more demanding given how wet and muddy we saw it can be last year. For my first time in a Rally1 car on asphalt on such a rally, it could be quite a challenge but it’s one that I’m really happy to face, of course.”
