Evans is the reigning winner of Rally Finland and the fast gravel stages in Central Finland have suited the Welshman excellently in previous years. This year has been no exception.
Evans had a strong Friday in Jyväskylä and stayed in the fight for the rally win throughout the day. Heading into the overnight break, Evans was eight seconds behind his teammate Kalle Rovanperä.
“Today went relatively well, but of course, it was a tough day,” Evans said at the end of the day.
“I managed to get through the day without mistakes. Although the gap widened slightly towards the end of the day, I still managed to stay in the fight for the win. Tomorrow will, of course, be a big day, Evans anticipated.
Eight seconds is not usually a very big gap, but if the race follows Friday’s pattern on Saturday, it may be difficult to close the gap, especially when fighting against Rovanperä.
“Yes, it is quite a big gap here in Finland, but in any case, tomorrow will be a big day,” Evans said.
From the perspective of the championship battle, the rally has so far gone according to Evans’s script. Championship leader Thierry Neuville is not in the fight for the win, and Ott Tänak crashed out on Friday and had to retire. However, Evans did not want to get ahead of himself.
“We haven’t scored any points yet. But at least it has started well,” Evans reminded.
For Evans’s championship hopes, the most important thing would be to score more points than Neuville and Tänak, but all points are, of course, welcome. The main thing, however, is to stay on the road and avoid mistakes. Friday once again showed the brutal nature of rallying. Everything can go wrong very quickly, and the race can end abruptly.
“Of course, every point matters, so we will try to take everything we can get. I’m just focusing on doing my thing, and that’s it, Evans concluded.
