Sami Pajari fastest on first shakedown pass at Rally Finland
31st July 2025Toyota’s Sami Pajari has taken the fastest time of the first shakedown test at the World Rally Championship’s Rally Finland on Thursday morning.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
The pre-event action got underway this morning, in Finland, as the sport completed its first pass of the usual shakedown tests, and it was Pajari who set the fastest time on the board.
It was a short test on the Ruuhimäki, 4.12km, stage, which included a virtual chicane in the middle of the run and a jump at the end.
The new championship leader, Hyundai’s Ott Tanak was the first out on the road after snatching the championship lead from Toyota’s Elfyn Evans in Estonia, last time out.
So, who topped the timing boards on the first pass?
Pajari was the pace-setter on the first run through Ruuhimäki with a 2m 17.5s run, pipping teammate Takamoto Katsuta to the top spot by 0.4s – the only driver to remain within a second of the Finn’s time.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux completed the top three, 1.2 seconds off the pace.
Tanak and M-Sport Ford’s Joshua McErlean finished the pass in fourth and fifth respectively, the latter going over the two-second mark behind the leading Finn (2.1s).
Fellow Finnish driver, and two-time world champion, Kalle Rovanpera found himself down in sixth ahead of Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, in seventh and eighth.
This left Toyota’s eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier and M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster to complete the top 10, in ninth and 10th respectively.
Martins Sesks, M-Sport, finished 11th and last of the Rally1 runners on the first run.
There are more passes to be made of the shakedown test ahead of the opening stage of the weekend, Harju, at 7:01pm, Thursday evening.
Read more WRC here:
- Stage guide: what is the itinerary for WRC Rally Finland?
- Rally Finland: the latest weather forecast ahead of WRC
- WRC Championship: How does it shape up after the lead change?
- Petter Solberg gives heartfelt tribute after Oliver Solberg Rally Estonia win
- Oliver Solberg dominates win at WRC Rally Estonia
- Oliver Solberg one stage away from WRC victory at Rally Estonia
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
