Rally Saudi Arabia exploded into pure drama on Friday afternoon as Mãrtiņš Sesks ripped the rally lead away from Adrien Fourmaux, whose charge collapsed after a costly wrong turn in blinding dust — all while Sami Pajari and Ott Tänak saw their podium fights detonated by brutal tire failures.
Four Drivers. 9.2 Seconds. One Total Meltdown.
Entering the afternoon loop, the top four were separated by just 9.2 seconds, with Fourmaux holding a razor-thin advantage.
But the tension only tightened: Sesks chopped the lead to 1.9s, and a stage win from Tänak brought him level with Pajari, both sitting 6.3s off the lead.
Then came SS13: Um Al Jerem 2 — the stage that blew the entire rally apart.
Tänak Punctures First. Pajari Follows. The Rally Rewrites Itself.
Tänak was the first to be struck, stopping early with a puncture that cost him 1m30.6s and dumped him to fifth.
Moments later, Pajari suffered the exact same fate, but with even heavier damage to his rally — sliding all the way down to eighth overall.
The shake-up rocketed Sébastien Ogier into sixth, while Elfyn Evans jumped past Grégoire Munster into ninth. In championship terms, Ogier’s provisional points swing grew to six, putting him three points ahead in the live standings.
Fourmaux Loses the Lead in a Cloud of Dust
But the most dramatic twist hit the rally leader himself.
Catching the heavy dust thrown up by Pajari’s earlier stop, Fourmaux misjudged a junction completely, blowing straight past a right-hand turn.
He hemorrhaged 24.0 seconds to Sesks — and now trails by 22.1s overall.
Fourmaux didn’t hide his frustration:
“I was in the dust of Sami and I did not see there is a right junction. I was looking at the corner and then I went straight… It was full of dust. We lose a lot of time. We will try [to get time back] because it’s not fair.”
Pajari explained his own disaster with equal disbelief:
“I was fifth gear flat out and I don’t know, some rocks, tire went flat, so there was no chance to drive on it.”
Sesks Takes Control — But Calls the Rally “Crazy”
Sesks blasted through the stage 8.0 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville, promoting the Belgian to third overall.
The new rally leader could only marvel at the mayhem around him:
“This one was very tricky. Again there were places it looks like you can push but you cannot, but I think we tried. This rally – it’s crazy. Either you are lucky or… still a long way to go.”
