Evans’s lead in the World Rally Championship shrank to just three points, with only the new Saudi Arabian round remaining at the end of November. He lost one championship point to Ogier on the Power Stage by a mere 0.096 seconds.
The narrow defeat hit hard, even though Evans is known for his cool and composed demeanour. After the Power Stage, he let out a rare curse in the background of the TV broadcast — though in typically understated fashion. By the time he reached the media area, his strongest emotions had already subsided.
“We’ve always asked for there to be some advantage for winning the rally compared to finishing second. In these conditions and with such small margins, it feels like we lost a big haul of points. But that’s the name of the game. You’ve got to win to get those points,” Evans lamented.
“Seb had a really strong weekend. I’m obviously disappointed with the result, but at least the fight was a good one.”
Evans has been remarkably consistent throughout the season. Early on, he claimed two victories and hasn’t retired from a rally yet.
“I’ve tried to stay consistent, but we’ll see how far that gets us,” Evans remarked.
The Welshman felt that the chance of victory may have slipped away as early as Friday.
“I don’t think the start was very good. By midway through Friday we were already 10 seconds behind, and that was roughly the same gap at the finish. A poor start didn’t help, that’s for sure,” said Evans, who lost the overall win by 11.6 seconds.
