Evans was still very much in contention for the win in the morning, but then during the mid-morning stage, he encountered issues with his hybrid unit. It worked intermittently, sometimes functioning and sometimes not.
The same problem did not bother him during the afternoon stages, yet Evans could not precisely pinpoint why his pace faded as the day progressed.
“I really don’t know,” he said.
“To be entirely honest, it didn’t feel very good. There wasn’t any major issue, but it’s frustrating,” Evans continued.
Evans’s day was very mixed. There were good moments, but also bad ones.
“It wasn’t the best day. The morning was mixed. Obviously, not what we wanted, but not a total disaster either. But the afternoon was a disaster. I had no pace at all throughout the afternoon. We need to investigate what was happening. It didn’t feel good behind the wheel, but then again, nothing was completely wrong.”
Evans is now over half a minute behind the leader, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Three more special stages are to be run in Monte on Sunday. Everything is still possible, but it will be very difficult to close the gap by driving alone.
“We need to be ready for tomorrow and figure out what was going on this afternoon. Then we’ll see what’s possible,” Evans outlined.
