DOLGELLAU’S Elfyn Evans extended his FIA World Rally Championship lead despite facing a difficult Rally Estonia, as Toyota Gazoo Racing celebrated a dominant one-two finish courtesy of rising star Sami Pajari.

While Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen stole the headlines with a sensational maiden WRC victory, Evans once again demonstrated why he remains the man to beat in this year's title race.

The Welshman arrived in Estonia at the top of the championship standings but faced the disadvantage of running first on the road on Friday. In the dry and dusty conditions, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were forced to sweep loose gravel from the racing line, leaving cleaner and faster conditions for their rivals behind them.

Despite the setback, the Dolgellau driver dug deep throughout the weekend. Starting Saturday down in ninth place, Evans steadily worked his way through the field to finish sixth overall before producing an impressive final-day charge.

His efforts were rewarded with second place in the Super Sunday standings and third in the Power Stage, bringing home a valuable haul of bonus points and stretching his championship lead to 25 points with five rounds remaining.

Evans said: “We faced a tough start to the weekend with the stages being so dry and the cleaning effect so clear.

“In the end, I think we clawed back as many positions as we could and that sixth was realistically the most that was possible.

“Then, the final day was quite OK for us. I think the rain helped a bit to even things out and we had a pretty good run through both stages.

“So we came away with some decent points and now we'll look forward to Rally Finland.”

Although Evans was unable to challenge for the podium, the championship leader emerged from a potentially damaging weekend having strengthened his position at the top of the standings.

At the front, Finland's Pajari produced a flawless display to secure his first World Rally Championship victory. Just two years after debuting in a GR YARIS Rally1 car during his successful WRC2 title-winning campaign, the 24-year-old dominated proceedings on Estonia's high-speed gravel stages.

Pajari won all seven stages on Friday and, despite pressure from fellow Toyota driver Oliver Solberg, maintained control throughout the rally to win by 19.5 seconds.

The result capped a remarkable rise for Pajari and means all five of Toyota's current Rally1 drivers have now tasted victory at the highest level.

Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson completed Toyota's one-two finish, while Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais secured fifth place and valuable manufacturers' championship points.

Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta recovered from tyre trouble earlier in the rally to score a Power Stage point and remains second in the drivers' standings. Pajari now sits third in the championship, with Ogier fourth and Solberg fifth.

The result further strengthened Toyota's grip on the manufacturers' championship, extending its lead to 156 points.

Deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen was delighted with his drivers: “They are all fighting for the championship and they can all win at Rally Finland, too.”

Attention now turns to Rally Finland from July 30 to August 2, one of the fastest events on the calendar and Toyota's home rally. For Evans, it represents another crucial opportunity to build on his championship advantage as he continues his pursuit of a maiden world title.