Sesks has so far been in excellent form, and the Latvian leads the challenging gravel event after the morning loop by 1.3 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux.
Sesks got into a great rhythm right from the start on Thursday, setting the fastest time on the first stage of the morning.
“In the morning on the very first special stage I had the feeling that I liked that stage. It felt like we found a good rhythm. In a few places it was really, really difficult, and you definitely need some luck here as well, because in some spots there are huge rocks in places you can’t see in the pace notes. Sometimes it’s a bit of a lottery,” Sesks admitted.
From the very beginning of the rally it has become clear that starting position has an exceptionally big impact in Saudi Arabia. The first cars have suffered harshly in their role as road-sweepers. Sesks, on the other hand, has benefited greatly from his starting spot.
“I think its significance is huge. On the other hand, when the road-sweeping goes well, it’s perfectly fine. I remember in Greece when we were the first car on the road, and it was an outright catastrophe. But at the same time, the rocks are where they are, and now that there are already a few cars behind us, in some places there are really deep ruts and huge rocks exposed. So you still need to be careful,” Sesks nonetheless pointed out.
However, Sesks did not expect the rally to get off to such a good start. Especially the pace on the first stage of the morning came as a slight surprise even to him.
“I felt that everything was fine and I understood the situation – the road-cleaning and everything. But that it would go this well? I didn’t expect that, because I still made mistakes and all sorts,” Sesks admitted.
