Adrien Fourmaux survived a puncture to top the Rally Saudi Arabia standings, after tyre damage took Sami Pajari and Martins Sesks out of the lead, while the World Rally Championship title fight took a twist.

Fourmaux emerged from a brutal day on top with a 6.0s lead from Toyota’s Pajari, with M-Sport’s Martins Sesks in third 6.9s adrift after tyre problems prompted a shake-up of the leaderboard across the afternoon.

It proved to be a brutal day sweeping the roads for Toyota’s three WRC title contenders, but it was Sebastien Ogier who came out on top in seventh [+44.2s], ahead of Kalle Rovanpera [+1m21.2s] and championship leader Elfyn Evans [+1m25.3s]. As it stands Ogier would take the title by one point from Evans, although there are two days of action remaining.

M-Sport’s Sesks had dominated the morning loop, winning two of the three stages and came close to a clean sweep had he not misjudged a junction in stage four that eroded his 7.3s advantage.

The M-Sport part-timer, making his first start since August, had a 1.3s advantage over Fourmaux going into the afternoon loop that was widely expected to be much rougher and with more rocks to avoid, increasing the risk of punctures.

Sesks continued his impressive display to win stage five [Al Faisaliyah 2] from Pajari and Fourmaux to extend his lead to 3.9s, but suffered a right-rear slow puncture towards the end of stage six [Moon Stage, 20.12km] which cost the Latvian 16.8s and dropped him to third, as Pajari took the spoils to jump into the lead.

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Fourmaux’s opportunity to make inroads on Pajari began to fade, as the former was the only driver to have gambled on taking only soft tyres, and it appeared to backfire on the abrasive gravel stages that followed the sandy stage that opened the afternoon.

However, Pajari was among four drivers, including Fourmaux, to suffer either a puncture or a delamination in stage seven [Khulays 2] that was arguably the roughest stage of the loop.

Pajari’s front-right delamination contributed to a 13.5s time loss, while Fourmaux reported a right-rear puncture towards the end of the stage, but the Hyundai driver only dropped 2.9s and was still able to move into the lead, which he held after the final super special test.

“I’m really pleased with the day to be fair; I was thinking we could push more and gain more time but there is the balance of pushing and saving the car and the tyre and I think we did it quite well,” Fourmaux said. “The gaps are small so nothing is done but it is positive and I have a good road position for tomorrow.”

Sesks completed an impressive day in third ahead of Ott Tanak, who despite struggling with the balance with this i20 N, emerged in fourth only 13.7s from the lead. Tanak, Ogier and Evans were the only Rally1 drivers to complete the day without any tyre issues.

Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville enjoyed the unique challenge of Saudi Arabia's stages despite suffering a puncture in stage three and a tyre delamination in stage seven. The issues didn’t cost the Belgian too much time, ending the day 14.9s off the lead, and ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who was delayed by a puncture in stage six.

Sebastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

In the title race, the battle was fought out in the fringes of the top 10, such was the penalty for starting at the top of the road order. The road cleaning effect was much greater than expected, although Ogier, starting second on the road, managed to negate the disadvantage the best to hold seventh. The eight-time world champion ended the day by sharing the fastest time with Sesks on the Jeddah super special test.

Rovanpera’s slim title hopes (24 points behind Evans) were dealt a blow by a puncture in stage four, but the Finn managed to overhaul Evans for eighth despite picking up a second puncture in stage seven which inadvertently helped Ogier’s title bid.

The top 10 was completed by M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster, who was hit with a puncture, tyre delamination and brake issue across the day. Oliver Solberg was the top Rally2 runner in 11th ahead of Josh McErlean, who lost more than three minutes to a puncture in stage two.

Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah endured an eventful Rally1 debut that included a puncture that cost seven minutes to change after losing the tailgate from his Ford Puma following a heavy landing from a jump.