ERC
ERC Greatest Graduate contest continues with Breen v Pajari
The ERC Greatest Graduate of the Modern Era competition continues today between two drivers who enjoyed FIA European Rally Championship success before they reached the top of the sport.
Since the ERC was restructured in 2004 into the hugely successful format recognisable today, an endless stream of drivers have built experience competing at European level either at the start of or during their rise to the sport’s highest echelon, the FIA World Rally Championship.
Throughout November, FIAERC.com is highlighting 16 drivers – selected by the ERC’s media team – who have done just that. And it’s calling on fans of the championship to help decide the best of the best graduates through an online poll that opened on Tuesday and closes following the grand finale on Friday 28 November.
Employing bracketology, voting is available through the ERC’s social media channels with a minimum 24-hour window to vote for each pairing. The winner will be announced on Saturday 29 November.
Breen on an ERC charge in the Azores in 2015
© ERC
Breen v Pajari: A legend and a Junior ERC star performer
Today’s vote is between the late Craig Breen, who remains a hero to fans and drivers young and old following his extraordinarily sad passing in April 2023, and Sami Pajari, a young Finn making waves for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the WRC.
Craig Breen: After making his ERC debut in 2013, Breen claimed five wins and 15 podiums from 36 ERC starts. His performances in 2015, when he finished runner-up in the standings after a run of three straight victories, put him on course for a factory-supported Citroën WRC drive in 2016. It took him just four events to bank his breakthrough podium – on Rally Finland – such was his ability. Breen made his final ERC appearance on Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto in March 2023, shortly after he finished second on Rally Sweden following a fine drive. He saved his best to last in the ERC by winning the Power Stage.
Pajari was a double ERC class winner in 2021
© ERC
Sami Pajari: Pajari’s tenure in the ERC was short but highly effective and played a decisive role in his capture of the 2021 Junior WRC title, which he secured during the same year as his ERC campaign. Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally4, Pajari made six starts in the European championship and bagged two category wins on his way to finishing runner-up in Junior ERC and ERC4. Following his ERC exploits, Pajari stepped up to WRC2 and made his Rally1 debut on his home round of the championship in August 2024, the year he also captured the WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger titles. He’s now a permanent feature of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT’s Rally1 line-up.
Visit FIAERC.com tomorrow (Thursday) to find out the next two ERC Greatest Graduate contestants and don’t forget to vote through the ERC social media channels.
