Sami Pajari extended his record nine‑stage win streak to a record nine, only to have it halted by Oliver Solberg on Saturday.
Dominance and Disruption
After flooding Friday’s seven stages with victories, Pajari kept his pedal to the metal, leaping to a 17.6‑second advantage on the opening two stages of Saturday’s loop.
Solberg’s surge, however, began at stage 10 when a 3.3‑second win broke the streak, followed by a razor‑thin 0.2‑second finish on stage 11, trimming Pajari’s lead to 14.1 seconds before service.
“0.2s on this stage [stage 11] is nothing really, but it seems he is building up the pace somehow. I need to focus on my thing, and the feeling is still there, so we need to keep pushing,” said Pajari, warning that the gap should not bite when Oliver pushes hard.
In contrast, Solberg refocused on his car’s feel. “That was the objective yesterday to change the car around to finally find out why the feeling wasn’t there like last year, and we found some answers,” he explained, hoping the new setup would match the confidence of the 2019 win.
Vulnerable at the start of the lap, Solberg experienced a vibration in his front‑right tyre. “I was so scared that it [the tyre] was going to blow up after what happened to Taka [Katsuta] yesterday,” he added, noting a momentary pull‑back before resuming the push.
Hyundai Hurdle and Rivalry
Adelien Fourmaux held third after a brush with an anti‑cut device on stage 10, but a deflating tyre in the closing fifth kilometre of stage 11 left Neuville three seconds behind him. Neuville then narrowed the gap to 5.6 seconds.
World champion Sebastien Ogier, still battling Neuville, finished 19.8 seconds behind and 1m 04.4 seconds from the lead. “It didn’t go the way we were hoping for. But I didn’t manage to increase my speed,” Ogier said, admitting lingering hesitation on high‑speed forest sections.
Drivers Falter and Edge Forward
Lead change came when Elfyn Evans, the championship leader, ran a 16.7‑second margin over Om, climbing from ninth after stage 8 and overtaking Esapekka Lappi and Josh McErlean. Evans benefited from an exhaust manifold failure that forced McErlean to retire his Ford Puma.
McErlean’s teammate, Martins Sesks, also faced a front‑right puncture on stage 9, boosting Evans’ ascent to sixth.
Jon Armstrong completed the rally with a nosebleed in the final stage. “It always looks worse than what it is. It’s quite easy if you’re not careful whenever you’re wiping your sweat off your face, then you can basically just get a nosebleed because you just hurt a vessel,” he chuckled, remarking that it “maybe happens once a year in rallies for me.”
With five more stages remaining, the pack is poised for a final battle as the Australian driver pivots to seize the remaining seconds. The road ahead could reopen gaps or cement the standings—time will tell when the final gravel line is crossed.
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