Sami Pajari made a strong start to the Croatia Rally, ending Friday morning’s opening loop in the lead with an 8.4-second advantage over Toyota teammate Takamoto Katsuta. Competing on the event’s new-look stages in Istria, Pajari delivered a consistent performance to claim only the second WRC rally lead of his career.
“Maybe not the position I was expecting after the first loop but I’m not complaining,” Pajari said at the completion of SS4. “I still feel I need to improve but it’s so bloody long way to go, it’s too soon to say anything more. It’s not easy, but I was confident, we had a good plan to go with the hard tyre. I think finally it was not so different if you had a hard or soft, but I am still happy with the choice.”
While the rally’s return to the calendar drew large crowds to watch the epic action unfold, the opening stages proved challenging for several frontrunners. Oliver Solberg exited early after going off the road in the first stage, while championship leader Elfyn Evans, who had built a commanding lead, retired following a crash in stage three caused by a pacenote error.
Thierry Neuville completed the loop in third place after setting the fastest time on stage three, followed by Hyundai teammate Hayden Paddon. Josh McErlean held fifth, with Adrien Fourmaux sixth despite losing time to a puncture.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel led his Lancia-driving team-mate Nikolay Gryazin by 9.2s., with Romet Jürgenson in third in a Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Opening round winner Calle Carlberg completed stage four leading Craig Rahill by 17.1s in the FIA Junior WRC Championship category.
Crews returned to service at Automotodrom Grobnik before preparing to tackle the repeated stages in the afternoon loop starting with Vodice - Brest at 15:15.
