Rally d’Estonia 2026, Day 2: Pajari close to the dream

Last year it was Oliver Solberg who achieved his first victory in the WRC, moreover obtaining an unexpected success in the weekend when Toyota promoted him to the official team. Now, to reach the same milestone (still with Toyota) could be Sami Pajari. So far author of almost error-free performances between Day 1 and this day, the Finn enjoys a decent lead over the chasers, with the Baltic rally calendar featuring ‘only’ two stages in tomorrow’s Super Sunday, crucial to confirm his leadership.

Read more Sami Pajari celebrates his first WRC victory at the Rally Estonia

SS8-SS12: Solberg breaks Pajari’s dominance

After seven special stages closed in the lead on Day 1, also today Pajari gave his best with a win in SS8, repeating himself in the next stage. In both cases, the Finn set the best time ahead of Oliver Solberg, the first driver who, in SS10, interrupted the #5’s dominance. The Swede, winner last year in Estonia, then repeated in SS11, with Pajari always in second position and with an 18-second lead in the overall standings over Solberg himself, who returned 2nd in SS12, the last Estonian morning stage. Those who followed the Toyota duo in the first five stages of the day were instead the two home Hyundai drivers: Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville. The Frenchman occupied the third step of the ‘podium’ both in SS8 and SS9, but made a mistake in SS10, during which he hit a cut-block damaging his i20 N. Here, Neuville took advantage to complete the stage in third place, as in SS11, without however overtaking the Frenchman in the overall standings, the latter returning ahead of the Belgian in SS12.

Read more Aston Martin in talks with potential financiers

SS13-SS16: the race towards victory

Following a slight ‘dip’ in the last two morning stages, Pajari returned to impose himself in the early afternoon as a true leader both in SS13 and SS14, winning both stages. The Finn made a mistake only in the next stage, where due to a collision with an obstacle placed at the edge of the course he finished in third position, his ‘worst’ performance since the start of the Rally. In fact, after Neuville’s win in SS15, Pajari did not go beyond 6th place in the last stage of the day, where Solberg set the best time, but despite this the Swede finished 25 seconds behind Toyota’s #5. While Fourmaux prevailed over Neuville in a long battle between Hyundai drivers for third place, both ahead of Ogier and championship leader Evans, the Baltic rally will conclude tomorrow with Super Sunday, but above all with Pajari one step away from his first WRC victory.

Read more F1 Belgian GP 2026, Race: Antonelli from pole to extend the lead in the standings, the start is at 15:00 – LIVE

Rally Estonia 2026, standings after SS16 (Top-10)