WRC Saudi Arabia: Fourmaux penalty hands Sesks lead after chaotic stage
by Tom Howard · AutosportIt is advantage Sebastien Ogier in WRC title fight heading into final day at Rally Saudi Arabia which is led by Martins Sesks
Martins Sesks inherited the Rally Saudi Arabia lead after Adrien Fourmaux was handed a one-minute penalty for checking into a time control early, while Sebastien Ogier holds the advantage in the World Rally Championship title fight.
Fourmaux had emerged from a chaotic Friday with a 2.4s lead over M-Sport’s Sesks, but checked into the time control one minute early. As a result, officials issued the Hyundai driver a one-minute penalty, dropping the Frenchman to fourth, 57.6s adrift.
Sesks now leads the rally by 3.4s from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, with Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta in third, 41.5s in arrears.
This is the latest twist in what was one of the most dramatic days of the season, after Fourmaux was among six crews to encounter tyre issues in a crazy final stage.
Fourmaux started Friday at the head of a four-way victory fight with M-Sport-Ford’s Sesks, Toyota’s Sami Pajari, and Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak.
Equipped with a six-second lead, Hyundai’s Fourmaux witnessed his advantage reduce to 2.9s from the impressive Sesks across the morning loop in which he had to manage a broken rear suspension arm.
The morning stages were rough and became even more extreme for the second pass, resulting in drama up and down the leaderboard.
Sesks' charge showed no signs of stopping as the Latvian took another second out of Fourmaux in stage 12 before the lead battle took a dramatic twist in stage 13 - Um Al Jerem 2. Tanak and Pajari had both closed to within 6.3s of the lead, sharing third position, only for the pair to suffer punctures. The deflations arrived early in the stage meaning the pair were forced to stop and change wheels, taking them out of the victory battle.
Pajari rejoined the stage in front of Fourmaux, but the trailing dust left by the Toyota driver proved to be a distraction and saw Fourmaux miss a junction. The delay cost the Frenchman the lead, as Sesks marched into a 22.1s advantage.
But there was one final twist in what will be remembered as one of the craziest stages in recent WRC history.
In stage 14, Sesks picked up a left-rear puncture early in the stage but opted to press on, reaching the stage end having dropped 54.1s. It appeared Fourmaux would inherit a significant lead only for the Hyundai driver to also suffer a front-left puncture.
Fourmaux also opted against stopping to change the wheel, losing 29.6s in total, but it was enough to move back into the lead before the check in penalty reshuffled the leaderboard.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera was among the lucky crews to avoid tyre issues in the final test of the day, as the Finn took the stage win and move into fifth overall.
Ogier was among those to suffer a puncture in the final stage of the day but managed to reach the service park in sixth [+1m12.8s], 0.2s behind Rovanpera, but ahead of Pajari and championship leader Elfyn Evans.
Evans endured his own puncture drama in stage 11 that required the Welshman to stop and change a wheel at the cost of 1m38s. It initially dropped Evans to 10th position before rising to eighth, following a series of punctures for rivals in the afternoon.
As it stands Evans heads into the final day trailing Ogier by one point in the championship fight. There will also be 10 more points to fight for across Saturday’s three stages.
The top 10 was completed by M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster and top Rally2 runner Oliver Solberg.
Tanak ended Friday in 16th after suffering a total of four punctures across the day, which resulted in him being late to the final time control, incurring a 2m30s penalty.
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- The Autosport.com Team