Toyota handed an appearance to a young talent at Rally Chile at the expense of one of their full-time drivers.
Sami Pajari returned to the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car after he was given a chance to race in the WRC at his home event in Finland. The 22-year-old took the place of Takamoto Katsuta in Chile, who has endured a torrid 2024 campaign.
The Japanese driver has only finished on the podium once this season with second place in Kenya and has only finished in the top five on one other occasion as the 31-year-old has encountered several issues and incidents across the season.
With Katsuta sidelined in Chile, Pajari was given a second opportunity to prove himself in Rally1 machinery. The Finn is currently racing in WRC-2, where he has claimed three wins at Sardinia, Poland and Greece and is currently sat third in the standings, 15 points behind the leader Oliver Solberg.
Jari-Matti Latvala confirms ‘discussions’ with Sami Pajari over a 2025 Toyota WRC seat
On his WRC debut at Rally Finland, Pajari immediately impressed as he finished fourth overall and grabbed his maiden stage win.
READ MORE: What Hyundai are going to do about the ‘internal fight’ for the WRC drivers’ title
In Chile, the 22-year-old continued to show his skills as he navigated the tricky conditions to finish sixth, as Toyota secured a one-two finish with Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans.
Pajari’s performances have put him in with a chance to land a seat with Toyota in 2025, and speaking with Motorsport.com, team principal Jari-Matti Latvala confirmed he has had ‘discussions’ with the Finn a he lauded his ‘perfect’ display in Chile.
“He [Sami] did an absolutely perfect result he did what we wanted him to do,” said Latvala.
“We couldn’t ask for more. We wanted him to have a consistent run and we can see that there is speed and he said himself that he could do more but I told him that we just wanted him to get more kilometres and get more comfortable in the car.
“There are going to be more steps to climb in the future. What we have seen I would be very encouraged to see him driving more events next year.
“There are some discussions but no decisions.”
Toyota are looking to have three full-time drivers in 2025
Latvala has stated that Toyota is looking to run three full-time drivers for the 2025 WRC season.
READ MORE: WRC 2025 driver line-up with every team’s confirmed entry for the season
Kalle Rovanpera will return to a full-time campaign next season after competing part-time this year, with Elfyn Evans also expected to stay with the team.
Eight-time champion Sebastien Ogier’s future is currently not clear, with the Frenchman reiterating that he will not complete a full WRC season again.
Pajari will get another outing with the GR Yaris Rally1 at the next event in Central Europe. With a full-time seat up for grabs, the Finn will be eager to impress and show what he is capable of.