Mãrtiņš Sesks has lost the lead of Rally Saudi Arabia due to a rear-right puncture, meaning Sami Pajari leads a World Rally Championship event for the first time in his career.
Sesks dominated the morning for M-Sport, winning two of the three stages – missing out on the third due to a small overshoot that required him to reverse.
The Latvian repeated the trick on the first stage of the afternoon, winning the test by 2.2s to move into a 3.9s lead.
He was a massive 6.5s ahead of closest rival Pajari through the splits of SS6 too, but a rear-right puncture meant he lost 16.8s and the rally lead.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Sesks said. “There’s so many rocks, yeah… I don’t know really. It was a slow puncture I think in the beginning.”
Sesks is now 12.9s off the lead in third position, with Pajari 5.3s clear of Adrien Fourmaux, who has gambled by taking no hard tires for this loop.
Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans remain seventh and eighth overall in their fight for the world title.
