Tänak suffered a puncture roughly ten kilometres into the stage and lost just under a minute and a half. Moments later Pajari faced the same fate.
A Hankook front tyre failed on Pajari’s Toyota about ten kilometres before the finish. The tyre change for Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen took longer than Tänak’s, costing them around two minutes.
As a result, Pajari and Tänak dropped out of the lead battle. They had been tied for third and were only 6.3 seconds from the lead. Tänak now continues in fifth place and Pajari in eighth.
Tänak did not comment any further at the finish, but Pajari opened up on what happened.
“I was flat-out in fifth gear when the tyre went empty,” a disappointed Pajari said.
Rally leader Adrien Fourmaux also experienced drama. The Hyundai driver mistakenly went the wrong way and dropped around ten seconds.
Fourmaux ultimately lost 24 seconds to a stunning stage time by Martins Sesks in the M-Sport Ford. Sesks therefore jumped into the rally lead ahead of the Frenchman by 22.1 seconds.
“It was a difficult stage. In some places it looked like you could push, but actually you couldn’t. At least we tried,” Sesks said, but he did not want to speculate yet about a possible maiden victory.
“I was driving in Sami’s dust and I couldn’t see the junction clearly. I overshot the corner. I just couldn’t see because there was so much dust,” said Fourmaux, who started the stage after Pajari.
The dramatic stage shuffled the overall leaderboard. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville moved into third and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta climbed to fourth. Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier’s title chances improved further in the season finale as he took over sixth place.
Kalle Rovanperä remains seventh, just ahead of Pajari. Championship leader Elfyn Evans holds ninth place.
One more stage will be driven on Friday in Rally Saudi Arabia. The event concludes on Saturday.
Rally Saudi Arabia standings after SS13/17:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Martins Sesks | Ford | 2:26:38.6 |
| 2. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +22.1 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +50.3 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:25.1 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +1:35.0 |
| 6. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +1:43.1 |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +2:06.7 |
| 8. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:15.8 |
| 9. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +4:31.6 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:43.1 |
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
