The Welshman is chasing the first World Championship title of his career. As has happened a couple of times before in Evans’ career, his main rival is once again his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, for whom another world title would be the ninth of his career – putting him level with his compatriot Sébastien Loeb.
Evans leads the standings by three points heading into this week’s final round of the season in Saudi Arabia. The brand-new WRC rally brings a real challenge to the title fight, with conditions certain to be unpredictable.
“We go to Saudi Arabia knowing that everything is still to play for and very open in the championship. Seb is a tough opponent and performing at a really high level, and Kalle cannot be counted out at this stage either,” Evans says.
“It will be tough, but we’re going to give it our best shot of course. Nobody really knows what to expect from this event. None of the drivers have done it before and many of the stages are completely new anyway, so it’s basically a clean sheet for all of us. We just have to arrive there, focus on doing the best rally we can, and see what comes.”
Ogier took a full 35 points from the previous round in Japan, which brought the French star right back into contention. In October, Ogier suffered his only retirement of the season so far after going off the road at the Central European Rally. Before the season finale he has an impressive six wins, compared with Evans’ two.
“It was an intense battle with Elfyn for the win at Rally Japan and it was good for us to close the gap in the championship before the final round. It’s been a strong year, I’m happy with the performance we’ve had and I’ve really enjoyed driving the car,” Ogier sums up.
Ogier has repeatedly emphasised the same mantra – that he hopes a great season will receive the worthy finale it deserves. The French ace has expressed concern that the conditions in Saudi Arabia might end up deciding the champion and that luck could play too big a role.
“Hopefully this all-new rally can be a good and exciting finale for the championship. Nobody has much experience of what the stages are like there, so there can be the potential for a lot of surprises,” Ogier says.
“There could be rough sections with a lot of rocks around, but hopefully the conditions are fair for all of us, and may the best man win!”
The Saudi Arabia WRC rally starts on Wednesday with a shakedown and an evening super special stage. The rally, which finishes on Saturday, features a total of 17 stages covering around 320 kilometres.
