Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera suffered punctures on Friday morning as the World Rally Championship title battle took another twist, while Adrien Fourmaux’s Rally Saudi Arabia lead was cut to 2.9 seconds.
Punishing gravel stages littered with rocks once again increased the puncture risks for crews with Evans and Rovanpera both picking up punctures in stage 11[ Wadi Almatwi 1, 24.90 km] - the toughest of the loop.
A rapidly deflating left rear sustained at the start of the stage forced Evans to stop. A rapid 1m38s wheel change meant he only slipped one position to 10th, 12.8s behind M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster.
The road cleaning effect again contributed to Evans struggling to match the pace of those ahead and subsequently drifted further away from title rivals Sebastien Ogier and Rovanpera sitting in seventh and eighth respectively. Rovanpera suffered his fourth tyre issue of the weekend moments after Evans stopped, but fortunately for the Finn it occurred at the end of the stage and didn’t cost him valuable time.
“There were rocks everywhere, so I have no idea where or how it happened,” said Evans. “When you are that far behind there is not really much you can do, but we need to make sure we get ahead of Gregoire and take it from there. It is a bit frustrating.
“It is not all lost yet, but it is getting harder by the minute.”
Ogier was also unable to make any inroads on the top six due to the conditions, although Evans’ puncture has eased the pressure to some degree on the Frenchman in the title race. But Ogier is still wary that it can all change in a heartbeat.
“We were not really willing to take risks, and we saw Elfyn having a puncture, so I took it a bit easier because of that. But actually, it doesn't change much for the race – so we have to stay ahead of Kalle.
“I don’t like playing at the casino much, but that is this race.”
At the front, the battle for victory stepped up a notch becoming a genuine four-way fight between Fourmaux, M-Sport’s Martins Sesks, Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Ott Tanak.
Fourmaux won the day’s opening test [Alghullah 1, 11.69km] from Pajari to extend his overnight lead to 7.8s. The Hyundai driver lost ground in the next two tests, revealing that he was nursing a bent suspension arm on the rear of the car.
“I think it is the most difficult today. I could go faster and I could push more, but when I start to push more there are rocks in the lines and we have to try to avoid them. If I’m too fast I cannot avoid them," said Fourmaux.
"I still keep my approach from yesterday and we are still leading. For sure we are losing time but let’s see. Anything can happen. I just try to optimise my chances and I don’t play with luck.”
Sesks continued his impressive push to finish the loop only 2.9s adrift, but the Latvian was lucky to avoid punctures after damaging his front right and rear left wheels in stage 10. Sesks’ strong morning moved him ahead of Toyota’s Pajari.
“I’m managing well so far,” said Sesks. “We damaged two wheels and we were lucky to be honest, I’m trying to understand how to manage.”
Despite starting ahead of his rivals, 2019 world champion Tanak delivered fastest times in stages 10 and 11 to haul himself firmly into the victory fight, only 9.2s in arrears.
“In the faster parts today, I feel better in the car and the rhythm is there, in the slower parts it is not great," said Tanak. “It is not about pushing, we need to manage, it is very difficult to balance between going fast and getting a puncture.”
While Tanak closed on the lead group, team-mate Thierry Neville fell away after losing time to a broken left rear damper, ending the loop in fifth, 15.2s ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta.
M-Sport’s Munster had to nurse a right rear damper issue through the majority of the loop, but managed to reach service in 10th position. Recovering from a stage two puncture, team-mate Josh McErlean climbed back to 11th position despite suffering an engine stall in stage 10.
M-Sport Rally1 debutant Nasser Al-Attiyah was delayed by having to stop for camels on stage 10 before successfully navigating the loop.
Oliver Solberg continued to top the Rally2 runners, while Gus Greensmith led the WRC2 class. The crews will repeat the loop of stages this afternoon to complete Friday’s action.
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