July 19 (Reuters) - Toyota's Sami Pajari took the first World Rally Championship win of his career on Sunday with victory in Estonia.
The 24-year-old Finn won 12 of 18 stages and led from start to finish as he beat Swedish teammate Oliver Solberg, who took a maximum 10 bonus points from the weekend, by 19.5 seconds with Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux third.
"It's something so amazing. Maybe I didn't realize what I have just done." said Pajari as he celebrated. "We knew it was coming, there was no doubt, but now we have done it. So it's good."
Toyota's Elfyn Evans finished sixth over the gravel roads and stretched his lead at the top of the standings with 177 points to teammate Takamoto Katsuta's 152, and with Pajari moving up to third on 144.
Toyota stretched their lead in the manufacturers' championship with 464 points to Hyundai's tally of 308 after nine rounds of 14.
Hyundai's 2024 world champion Thierry Neuville finished fourth, with Toyota's reigning nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier fifth.
Pajari is the sixth different winner in nine rounds this season.
The next round is in Finland from July 30 to August 2.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
