Rally Finland 2024 ran from 1 to 4 August as round 11 of the FIA World Rally Championship season. Among the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT entries, car No. 5 carried a young Finnish driver making one of his selected factory appearances of the year — a detail that gives this particular resin model a sharper narrative edge than a standard factory entry.
The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
Introduced for the 2022 WRC season under FIA Rally1 technical regulations, the GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid pairs a 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with a Compact Dynamics 100 kW electric motor unit, producing a combined output of approximately 500 hp. The Rally1 rules mandate a standardised hybrid system across all competing manufacturers, marking a significant shift in the technical character of the World Rally Championship. Built on the GR Yaris road car platform, the competition version retains a direct visual link to the production model while operating at an entirely different performance level.
Sami Pajari at Rally Finland 2024
Sami Pajari is a Finnish driver and one of rallying's recognised emerging talents, competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in a selective programme across the 2024 WRC calendar. Rally Finland — held on the fast, flowing gravel roads around Jyväskylä — is widely regarded as one of the championship's most demanding and celebrated rounds. Finishing 4th overall alongside co-driver Enni Mälkönen at his home event represented a meaningful result for a development driver competing against established WRC regulars. The car ran in the team's standard white livery with red and black accents, carrying GR and Castrol branding.
The Spark 1:43 Scale Model
This 1:43 scale model is produced by Spark Model in resin, the material that defines the upper tier of small-scale rally replicas. Spark Model has built a long-standing relationship with WRC subjects, consistently reproducing factory liveries, car numbers, and sponsor graphics with the precision that distinguishes resin construction from diecast alternatives. The model replicates car No. 5 in the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT livery precisely as fielded at Rally Finland 2024, documenting the hybrid-era Rally1 generation of the GR Yaris at a specific competitive moment.
In the Display Cabinet
This 1:43 model pairs logically with other Spark WRC releases from the 2024 season — the No. 33 GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid of Evans/Martin and the No. 69 of Ogier/Landais form a natural Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT group. Collectors building a Rally Finland-themed shelf will also find relevance in earlier Spark releases covering the pre-Rally1 era. For those following Pajari's career trajectory, this model documents a formative factory result from 2024 that will carry increasing reference value should his WRC campaign expand in subsequent seasons.
