Motorsport is defined by fraction of seconds which can easily be taken for granted, as the World Rally Championship proved in perhaps the most dramatic way at the Acropolis Rally.
While it is not too unusual to see crews clock identical stage times, it's rare to see drivers share the lead. But to finish a rally with exactly the same time is a collector’s item.
However, last weekend after completing 305 kilometres of arguably the most gruelling stages on the WRC calendar, Sami Pajari's Printsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and Robert Virves's RaceSeven Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 couldn’t be split on overall times in the battle for WRC2 honours, with the victory decided on countback.
In what was one of the most dramatic finishes in WRC history, Pajari and Estonian rival Virves both reached the end of the Power Stage with exactly the same overall time down to the hundredth of a second.
It required a rare use of the countback rule to decide the victory, which meant comparing head-to-head times recorded on stage one of the rally on Friday. On this occasion, Toyota WRC protege and WRC2 title contender Pajari beat Virves by 19.7 seconds to seal the win.
This extraordinary dead heat only eventuated after fellow WRC2 title contender Yohan Rossel’s dominant start to the rally was halted by a puncture on stage six, which cost the Frenchman two minutes. Rossel, driving a DG Sport Citroen C3 Rally2, had built a lead of 46.5s over Pajari before the tyre failure.
Virves, only competing in Greece following a successful crowdfunding project that raised €50,000, set a blistering time on stage six to leap from fourth into a 1.5s lead over Pajari.
On Saturday, Pajari snatched the lead by outpacing Virves by 16.3s on stage nine, before ending the day with a 27.7s advantage, after Virves suffered a puncture on stage 11.
Heading into Sunday’s final stage, Pajari had a 28.5s margin but a puncture hampered his progress. Pajari elected to press on regardless knowing the win and his title chances were at sake and crossed the finish with exactly the same overall time as Virves.
“When we crossed the line, I looked around to see if anyone knew the result, but nobody seemed to know,” said Pajari, who trails championship leader Oliver Solberg (who wasn’t competing in Greece) by three points.
“It took a few minutes to find out that we had won, and it was a huge relief. It was a fantastic battle with Robert, especially in such a tough rally! This win is hugely important for our championship hopes.
“This is a good reminder that even if you are having issues you should keep pushing, every hundredth of a second counts.
“We knew that this is a really tough and demanding rally and after Saturday we had quite a comfortable lead and people start to say that you can back off and go a steady pace but I was saying even if you have a two minutes gap before the last stage anything can happen.”
Virves added: “For sure it’s not the ideal situation but overall I can be happy with how we managed the season.
“The most important thing is I have shown my pace on all kinds of terrains. I can be competitive everywhere let’s say.”
Rossel recovered to finish third to keep his title hopes alive. However, Solberg can claim the championship if he wins in Chile later this month.
FIA Rally Star-funded driver Romet Jurgenson will graduate to WRC2 next year after wrapping up the Junior WRC title at his first attempt, finishing second in class behind Norbert Maior.
“Three years ago when I first saw this [FIA Rally Star] programme I was thinking this is my chance and now we are champions,” said Jurgenson.
