The rally’s surprising leading trio continued their brilliant fight, and this time the fastest of the three was M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks, who left both Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux behind. It took its toll, though, as Sesks ran his tyres almost completely down on this fast gravel stage.
“It doesn’t sound good,” Sesks said when hearing about the state of his tyres.
Sami Pajari was 3.1 seconds off Sesks’ benchmark.
“The conditions are quite challenging in the sense that you don’t really know where you can push and where you can’t,” Pajari summarised.
The fastest time, however, was set by Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who may be dropping some of the final stage wins of his career. He beat Sesks by just 0.1 seconds.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä was also in good form on the second stage of the morning. He was 13.4 seconds behind Tänak’s pace and was the quickest of those involved in the WRC title fight. The Finn was not particularly satisfied, though.
“Extremely difficult. The route is full of crests and blind corners. I’m trying to push, but I have to work too much with the car, so it’s not easy. In addition, the stage gets faster car by car,” Rovanperä explained.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans was this time faster than Sébastien Ogier. Only 0.3 seconds separated the pair.
In the overall classification, Fourmaux still leads the rally, but Sesks, who has now climbed to second, was able to cut the gap to 4.2 seconds. Pajari has dropped to third, but he is only 5.2 seconds off the lead. In an endurance rally like this, that is a negligible gap, and Pajari remains genuinely in the fight for victory.
Ogier, battling for the world title, remains seventh, Rovanperä eighth and Evans ninth.
Four more special stages will be run on Friday at Rally Saudi Arabia. The event concludes on Saturday.
Rally Saudi Arabia standings after SS10/17:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | 1:44.42.1 |
| 2. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +4.2 |
| 3. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +5.2 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +12.3 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +32.6 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +43.7 |
| 7. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +1:08.5 |
| 8. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +1:40.6 |
| 9. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:54.7 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +3:19.2 |
Rally Saudi Arabia itinerary (CET):
Wednesday 26 November
09:01 Shakedown: Thahban (4.56 km)
18:35 SS1: Jameel Motorsport Super Special 1 (5.22 km)
Thursday 27 November
06:08 SS2: Al Faisaliyah 1 (19.36 km)
07:06 SS3: Moon Stage 1 (20.12 km)
08:04 SS4: Khulais 1 (11.33 km)
10:14 Service (40 min)
12:22 SS5: Al Faisaliyah 2 (19.36 km)
13:20 SS6: Moon Stage 2 (20.12 km)
14:18 SS7: Khulais 2 (11.33 km)
17:28 Service (45 min)
18:31 SS8: Jameel Motorsport Super Special 2 (5.22 km)
Friday 28 November
06:26 SS9: Alghulah 1 (11.69 km)
07:19 SS10: Um Al Jerem 1 (30.58 km)
08:35 SS11: Wadi Almatwi 1 (24.90 km)
10:15 Service (40 min)
11:51 SS12: Alghulah 2 (11.69 km)
12:47 SS13: Um Al Jerem 2 (30.58 km)
14:05 SS14: Wadi Almatwi 2 (24.90 km)
Saturday 29 November
07:05 SS15: Thahban 1 (16.29 km)
08:21 SS16: Asfan (33.28 km)
11:15 SS17: Thahban 2 (16.29 km) *Power Stage
