The final rally of the World Championship season had been widely predicted to hold an air of mystery—and so it proved. Contested in the searing heat of Saudi Arabia, the event was at times quite literally rocky and punishing on tyres, reshuffling the leaderboard time and again as the drama unfolded.
The competition began on Wednesday evening with a short asphalt sprint in Jeddah, run in a head-to-head format. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2’s Finnish pairing, Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, faced Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and claimed the first duel for Finland by a margin of three-tenths.
“Before the start we joked that this might decide starting positions for Monte next season. A few psychological games at work,” Pajari quipped cheerfully afterwards.
Thursday’s opening stages were expected to withstand the first pass but provide sterner challenges on the second. Complicating matters, the day offered three markedly different tests. The Finnish duo enjoyed a fine morning, even setting the benchmark time on the loop’s final stage. The overall classification remained tight: Ford’s Mārtiņš Sesks led, Fourmaux trailed by just 1.3 seconds, and Pajari sat third, a mere 1.7 seconds off the top.
“It was extremely rough in places—of the three stages this felt the easiest on which to destroy a tyre. The first loop is done; we’ll see what the second brings,” Pajari noted before the midday regroup.
The afternoon began equally well, with Pajari posting the second-fastest time and vaulting past Fourmaux into second place.
“I tried to push. I reckoned this stage would remain in tolerable condition for a second run. The next couple might be rather dreadful.”
Drama soon followed. Rally leader Sesks suffered a rear-tyre failure, elevating Pajari into the overall lead for the first time in his WRC career, 5.3 seconds clear of Fourmaux.
“In many places it felt like we were going quite steady. Overall it was a clean run. On a stage like this it’s difficult to know whether it was good or not,” Pajari said—moments before learning of Sesks’s misfortune.
The final gravel stage of the day again flipped the script. This time it was Pajari’s turn to encounter trouble, losing the tread on two tyres in the latter part of the test.
“I’m not entirely sure what happened. We still have a couple of long days ahead,” he sighed at stage end.
The evening concluded with a reprise of the previous night’s short asphalt test in Jeddah, won this time by Fourmaux, who reclaimed the rally lead. Nevertheless, the Finns ended Thursday very much in the fight—only six seconds off the top.
“In a rally like this, six seconds is nothing. We’ll certainly try to fight for the win,” Pajari asserted.
Friday’s opening loop was approached with measured caution. Rocks emerged, ruts deepened, but the Finns steered clear of trouble and reached midday service in third place, 4.5 seconds from the lead. Behind them, Ott Tänak had surged forward, now within five seconds of Pajari. The first stage of the afternoon saw Pajari adopt a listening brief, finishing fifth.
“There’s a noise or some sort of issue coming from the rear,” he remarked.
But the penultimate stage of Friday shattered hopes of a maiden WRC victory. A puncture with roughly ten kilometres remaining forced a roadside change of the front-left tyre. The delay dropped the crew from third to eighth, more than two minutes off the lead.
“The tyre went flat in fifth-gear pace. We had no choice but to stop and change it,” Pajari lamented.
Even the final stage of the day was not without intrigue. Tänak retired after sustaining double punctures and subsequent underbody damage, while both Fourmaux and Sesks also suffered punctures. They remained at the front but were now stalked by reigning champion Thierry Neuville.
“I expected things to start happening. We’d run out of spare tyres, so we simply had to drive through ‘slowly’,” Pajari explained at the finish.
Another twist emerged before evening service: Fourmaux checked into the pre-service technical zone one minute early, earning a corresponding one-minute penalty. Thus Sesks would start the final day leading Neuville by 3.4 seconds. With Tänak retiring, Pajari climbed to seventh overall.
Saturday’s opener saw Pajari and Salminen only eighth fastest, but they swiftly returned to form with a top-three time on the next test.
“Perhaps I was a bit slow to start the day. We tried to drive better here and enjoy it,” Pajari said.
Then the rally exploded into near-chaos. Kalle Rovanperä stopped from fifth to change a tyre. Third-placed Takamoto Katsuta rolled but dragged his car to the finish. Sesks, running second, suffered two punctures and a tyre change. Fourmaux lost time in Sesks’s dust, though he was later compensated for the hindrance. Sesks’s rally then collapsed entirely with engine troubles, preventing him from starting the Power Stage.
Within minutes, Pajari and Salminen had vaulted to fourth overall. The hopes of Pajari, Fourmaux and Sesks—all chasing a first WRC triumph—had evaporated in succession. In stark contrast, reigning champion Neuville now headed into the final stage with a healthy advantage and on course for his first win of the season.
Neuville indeed secured the victory, but the greater drama centred on the championship battle. Elfyn Evans threw everything at the Power Stage, winning it outright, but it was insufficient. Sebastien Ogier, finishing third in the rally, clinched his ninth world championship, with co-driver Vincent Landais earning his first.
Pajari and Salminen secured fourth place, supplemented by a bonus point on Sunday. Yet a season of steady progress ended with a touch of disappointment, for the objective had been unmistakable.
“We came here with a mission—to take that first victory—and for a long time it really looked possible. Of course, it’s a bit frustrating that it turned out as it did, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I’m satisfied with our performance this week, and it certainly leaves us hungry for next year.”