On the previous stage, M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks, who had dominated the rally, ran into trouble and lost the lead – and on the final proper stage of the afternoon, it was Toyota’s Sami Pajari’s turn.
Pajari lost a significant amount of time over the final seven kilometres of the Khulais special stage and, with it, surrendered his lead in the rally. TV images showed that one of the front tyres had delaminated badly. However, Pajari himself was not yet aware of this at the finish.
“There is some problem. We need to go and have a look at what it is. But there are still two days ahead,” Pajari said.
Due to his issues, Pajari dropped to second place behind Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, and the Frenchman will now enjoy that coveted better starting position for tomorrow. The pair are now separated by 5.3 seconds.
“We avoided tyre issues, we preserved the car, so I can be satisfied with today,” Fourmaux summed up.
In the overall standings Sesks is now third, 8.9 seconds off the lead. Hyundai duo Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville remain in fourth and fifth places.
Of the drivers fighting for the world title, the best performer of the day was Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier, who is chasing the ninth championship of his career. He left Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans behind and remains seventh overall. Rovanperä managed to climb ahead of Evans during the afternoon loop and moved up to eighth place. The gap between the pair is now 3.7 seconds.
“Opening the road has been absolutely awful all day,” Ogier said, neatly capturing the feelings of all the frontrunners.
“We’ve got very little to lose now, so we can push – and that’s what we did. So we’ll start behind Elfyn tomorrow. A tough day overall,” Rovanperä summed up.
Rally Saudi Arabia features one more short asphalt super special on Thursday. There is little to gain there, but a lot to lose. The event finishes on Saturday.
Standings in Rally Saudi Arabia after SS7/17:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | 1:14.54.3 |
| 2. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +5.3 |
| 3. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +8.9 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +15.2 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +16.3 |
| 6. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +22.2 |
| 7. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +46.2 |
| 8. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +1:22.5 |
| 9. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1:26.2 |
| 10. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2:10.4 |
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
