Evans has never managed to take victory in the French Alps, but he does have a total of four podium finishes. A “solid and reliable” podium finish, familiar from last season behind team-mate Sébastien Ogier, is likely to be the target once again.
Trying to match the pace of Ogier on his home roads could be too big a risk for Evans. The 37-year-old driver is known for his measured driving style, which allows him to collect points consistently throughout the season.
For rally drivers, the break between seasons is traditionally short. The previous season only ended in November in Saudi Arabia, after which teams returned to testing already before Christmas.
“Definitely a short turnaround, but we’re used to that these days in WRC. Nice to to have Christmas at home, but now it’s back to work and I’m looking forward to a new season,” Evans says.
All WRC teams tested for Rally Monte Carlo a few weeks before the actual event got under way. At that time the conditions were quite snowy, but the weather for the rally itself remains something of a question mark. According to forecasts, overnight frosts are at least expected, but snowfall is also possible in the mountains.
“Monte Carlo is always a bit of an unknown and like always, you never really know until almost the day before what you’re truly going to face in Monte in terms of weather, in terms of condition. We’ve had a reasonably straightforward test day, let’s say, in terms of conditions. So maybe not the best way to to start the year, since we had already a pretty good base for the car. But nonetheless, we’re taking the time to improve as much as we can,” Evans explains.
Overall, a driver’s options in testing these days are quite limited. It’s more about getting the setup to suit a very specific set of conditions. Each team has 21 test days available during the season, in addition to unlimited running at their own test area.
“Even though we’re in a fairly tight regulation cycle, even with very limited jokers, the guys are always working to find improvements, to always find that little bit more grip from front end, ” Evans says.
“It’s not an easy task that those guys have to work inside those parameters, but they always seem to to come up with some good ideas, and it’s nice to be a small part of that.”
This year will be the last with the current Rally1 cars. On the other hand, it is only the second season running with tyre manufacturer Hankook’s products.
“I think after such a short off season it’s nice in a way to have continuity from the cars and the tyres and everything that we had last year. We were already still learning everything that we had new for last year, new tires and and everything. So yeah, it’s nice to to have some continuity now, ” Evans sums up.
“We finished with the car in a pretty good place. So from that point of view, it’s a nice place to be. But of course, we can’t be complacent, and we have to continue to try to look forward and continue looking for ways to improve.”
