At his best, he was competing for a podium spot, but three punctures dashed those hopes. Heading into Sunday’s sprint day, the Welshman starts from fourth place, trailing the leader by over five minutes.
To Evans’ consolation, his main rival in the championship, Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville, also experienced a difficult day. On Sunday, both drivers are likely to fiercely chase additional points.
“Let’s see tomorrow. But in all honesty, you need luck to go through without any issue as well. It’s a long and difficult Sunday still to go,” Evans stated.
“And of course, you still need to get to the finish to get any points. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
The puncture on the last stage of Saturday left Evans frustrated. Without it, he could have still been in contention for at least third place by driving.
“It was a similar situation to earlier ones. So that’s a big shame. We tried to get it to the end, but in the end, it was safer not to take a chance of not getting the car to the finish. So we decided to change it,” Evans summarized.
“The gaps are big now and with this new system, tomorrow is almost like a new day.”
