Mikko Pajunen looks forward to a new challenge
The Finn to race on British tarmac at the weekend
Mikko Pajunen is looking forward to the weekend. Pajunen, from
Jyväskylä, Finland, is ready for the first tarmac rally of the year.
He is on his second season in the British Rally Championship. Pajunen
and his co-driver Jani Salo compete in Autosport Technology Renault
Twingo.
The Jim Clark International Rally, which takes place in Southern
Scotland, is long and demanding. During the two racing days the
drivers cover some 256 stage kilometres. Such a packed schedule is
unusual even for WCR events which rarely clock up so many kilometres
per day.
- There will be a lot of driving, that?s for sure. But everything is
ready. I?m pretty confident and look forward to the weekend. Tarmac is
my kind of surface, said Pajunen.
Pajunen has been in Britain for the last week and a half. He travelled
to the Isles right after the Vanajanlinna Finnish Championship event.
His schedule has included two days of testing.
- The car works surprisingly well on tarmac. We didn?t have to do
anything big during the testing. It had a good balance going over the
jumps and on the smaller roads our speed was up to scratch, estimated
Pajunen.
- On top of the testing we participated in Pendragon Stages Rally on
Sunday in the O-car. The weather kept changing and the trip was mostly
about testing different tyres, added Pajunen.
Pajunen estimates that the weather can play a big part in the
forthcoming British Championship event. The forecast promises very
unstable weather.
- If the weather changes a lot, choosing tyres becomes a lottery. It?s
down to luck whether the ones you choose work. I hope it will either
dry or wet but not both at the same time, told Pajunen.
Pajunen races in his front-wheel drive in the R2-class. There is
another Finn in that class, Jussi Kumpumäki. In last year?s event
Pajunen won his class comfortably with some eight minute lead to the
second place.
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