Adrien Fourmaux was the team’s top performer, and the Frenchman currently sits an excellent second overall. He is trailing the unexpected rally leader, M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks, by only 1.3 seconds.
Fourmaux made it through the morning loop without any major issues, even though it would have been easy for problems to arise.
“I don’t know how it looked from the outside, but from inside the car it was pretty wild. In every corner there could be a big rock or a hole in the road. You can easily pick up a puncture or damage the car. At the same time, there are many places where the road “sucks” the car in and the speed slows down, which affects the performance. There are lots of corners, and sometimes you have to slow down, avoid the rocks, and accelerate again,” Fourmaux recapped his morning.
“I know that in some places I’m losing a bit of time, and I don’t want to take too many risks. In other places I pushed properly to get the time back. That’s the balance I’m trying to find for the whole rally – we’ll see if it pays off. But so far it seems to be working,” Fourmaux continued.
The conditions in Rally Saudi Arabia are harsh enough that full focus is required at all times. Driving is a constant balancing act.
“Here you have to constantly adapt to different conditions and sometimes drive harder and sometimes more gently. But not in a way where you go flat out in every corner – this isn’t that kind of rally. A lot of self-control is needed here: you have to be able to tell yourself that in this place I’ll take it a bit easier and lose a moment of time, and then later I can attack again. There are lots of places and they vary a lot, a bit like in Monte Carlo, but more because of the rocks than the slipperiness,” Fourmaux described.
Things are unlikely to get any easier in the afternoon loop. The drivers have repeatedly said they don’t know what awaits them later in the day. Fourmaux shared the same view.
“Honestly, I can’t really say, as I have no experience from here. And the roads change after just one car. I expect the ruts to get deeper and loose rocks to increase — even big boulders might appear. I believe the risk of tyre delamination will rise. It’s hot, and in places the road is really abrasive. It’s going to be interesting, but the most important thing is to make it through the afternoon without trouble,” Fourmaux outlined.
Thierry Neuville in an all-too-familiar situation
Fourmaux’s team-mate Thierry Neuville, meanwhile, found himself dealing with an all-too-familiar situation: explaining his difficulties.
Neuville broke his car’s windscreen right at the start of the day. Despite the issues, the Belgian is fifth in the rally and 17.8 seconds off the lead.
“Well, it just shows how difficult the conditions were. After a jump, the underside of the car hit the ground heavily, and we didn’t have enough protection. The windscreen cracked, but visibility remained good, so we didn’t lose time,” Neuville explained.
Neuville has suffered punctures throughout the season, and he wasn’t spared this time either. Fortunately for him, it was only a slow puncture.
“I had a good feeling in the car. There were a few small issues in the morning – the intercooler fan wasn’t working, so I lost power at times and the throttle response wasn’t there. In addition, about eight kilometres before the finish we picked up a slow puncture. The last three to four kilometres were difficult, and we probably lost around eight seconds on the morning loop. On a day like this, that’s actually very little,” Neuville reflected.
