Evans Holds Off Ogier Charge

Elfyn Evans maintained his grip on the lead at the Monte Carlo Rally, fending off a spirited challenge from Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier. Meanwhile, ice proved to be a formidable opponent for Hyundai's Ott Tanak during Friday morning's leg of the WRC season opener.

Ogier, displaying a remarkable performance, won two out of the three tests, propelling himself from third to second overall. He now sits ahead of Hyundai's Thierry Neuville, who trails Evans by 24.5 seconds.

Tanak headed into midday service in fourth place, trailing more than a minute behind the leader after sliding off briefly on black ice, Fortunately spectators were on hand to get Tanak back onto the stage.

Grégoire Munster, the new M-Sport Ford driver, lost a full minute on the same corner. The biggest loss was for Takamoto Katsuta, stuck in the ditch for five minutes. “It’s entirely my fault”, admitted the Japanese Toyota driver before setting off again, well harnessed, towards the sunny descent of SS3.

Last year’s winner Ogier waited until mid-morning on Friday to set his first fastest time of the 92ndMonte-Carlo Rally (SS4) The rally leader Elfyn Evans had switched to management mode. He still held a 18.8-second lead over Neuville going into SS5, the last of the first loop, and 21.9 seconds over Ogier. “The grip was very low in some places. It wasn’t easy and maybe I was too careful,” admitted the Welshman.

The local hero made the most of this first loop of stages to move up to 2nd in the overall standings after SS5, 10.7 seconds behind Elfyn Evans, his Toyota team-mate.

“It looks like I’m still alive. I’ve had a complicated week but I’m going to do my best. I’ll talk about it after the rally…” said a particularly emotional Seb Ogier at the end of this special stage, which marked the return to the impressive driving style which brought him eight world titles.

Faced with Ogier in maestro mode, the rally leader is still Evans, but he is now just ten seconds ahead of his French team-mate, 40 since December 17. His favourite number, the one he also carries as a race number on his black Yaris. Beaten by Ogier by 11.2 seconds on SS5, the Welshman was not confident: “There’s very little grip in the icy sections, and a lot more in the dry sections,” summed up the reigning vice-world champion.

M-Sport Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux, who set the 3rd fastest time just behind Evans, six-tenths only behind the Welshman. “We had a good set-up and some very good notes, so I felt good and enjoyed myself without taking too many risks. I’m happy,” said the Frenchman, back in Rally 1 after a season in WRC2.

On the Hyundai side, Ott Tänak found a good rhythm again and did better than his team-mate Thierry Neuville, on this stage, to make up for his small mistake on SS3. “I had a lot of mentions of icy conditions in my notes and I was too cautious. It’s complicated to take more risks when the co-driver’s notes say that there’s black ice everywhere”, regretted the Belgian at the stop point. He is now 3rd overall, 24.5 seconds behind Ogier, but anything is still possible on the remaining 12 stages until Sunday morning.

After the midday break in the Gap service park, a second loop is scheduled for this afternoon, with a second pass in the same three stages (SS6 to SS8). One thing is certain: they will be less slippery than in the morning version.

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