Sami Pajari is heading into Rally Chile, returning to the Toyota factory team and replacing Takamoto Katsuta, who is being rested.
The Finnish driver has been very impressive this season and has built up to a fourth-place finish at his home event at Rally Finland, his first appearance in Rally1.
Pajari will be competing for Toyota during the final round of the World Rally Championship on gravel before two more events on tarmac.
He has been consistent during the season, finishing all the rallies apart from a minor blip at Rally de Portugal where the Finn failed to finish.
When speaking to the official WRC website, the 22-year-old explained he is wary of the abrasive surface at Rally Chile, an aspect of the event that he believes needs to be considered.
Sami Pajari believes tyre wear and the abrasive surface are ‘factors’ that need to be considered ‘carefully’
Pajari is very inexperienced at the highest level of rallying have made just one appearance in Rally1 after a successful career in Rally2, consistently challenging the top 10.
Despite his lack of experience, the Finnish driver performed admirably last time out at Rally Finland, just missing out on the podium.
The Toyota driver will be able to gather more seat time behind the wheel on gravel while driving on the loose surface in Chile.
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He explained that tyre wear and the abrasive surface will be critical factors throughout the event and they need to be thought about.
Pajari said: “There’s traditionally been a lot of road sweeping in this rally, so those starting at the front will act as the cleaners and suffer accordingly.
“On the first pass, tyre wear isn’t much of an issue, but some stages are particularly abrasive on the second run. We’ll certainly need to consider these factors carefully, especially with the new [for 2024] stages. It’s not a problem per se, but it’s something we need to account for.”
Sami Pajari should be a capable replacement for Takamoto Katsuta in the WRC
The Finnish driver impressed at Rally Finland, finishing in fourth place for Toyota and is used to competing on gravel.
Katsuta has also struggled over the past two events in Finland and at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, failing to finish inside the top 40.
Despite being presented an opportunity to compete in Rally1 in the WRC in Chile, Pajari admitted to feeling apologetic about his teammate Katsuta losing the seat.