Evans clocked his first fastest time of the day, beating his teammate Kalle Rovanperä by 3.7 seconds.
Overall, the Welshman now holds a 7.9-second lead over Toyota’s French star Sebastien Ogier, who finished fourth on the opening stage of the afternoon loop. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, meanwhile, slipped 15.4 seconds behind the leader.
“Not sure if that was consistent! A bit less mud than we expected, it’s drying quickly. But okay,” Evans reported.
Rovanperä’s standing in the rally is improving. With his second-fastest time, he moved up to fourth overall, now trailing the lead by 26.8 seconds.
“We made a few changes during the service to suit the slick tyres, and maybe it’s a bit better now. We’ll see what else we can improve,” Rovanperä said.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak remains in fifth, 6.6 seconds behind Rovanperä. M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster, however, had to give way to both Rovanperä and Tänak, dropping to sixth.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta sits seventh, ahead of reigning world champion Thierry Neuville, who had damaged his car on the final stage of the morning.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari, meanwhile, lost 46.5 seconds to Evans and slipped two-and-a-half minutes behind the leader overall. Now in ninth place, Pajari reported that there was nothing wrong with the car, but he struggled to find a proper rhythm in the challenging conditions.
Rally Monte-Carlo continues with two more stages on Friday. The event concludes on Sunday.
Rally Monte-Carlo standings after SS7/18:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 1:06:45.4 |
| 2. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +7.9 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +15.4 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +26.8 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +33.4 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +35.3 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:23.3 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:53.7 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2:32.2 |
| 10. | Nikolay Gryazin | Skoda | +3:23.4 |
| 11. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +3:36.1 |
| 12. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +4:11.9 |
Itinerary, Rally Monte-Carlo (CET):
Wednesday 22.1. 16.01 Shakedown: Route de la Garde (3,28 km) Thursday 23.1. 18.05 SS1: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 1 (19,01 km) 19.53 SS2: Faucon-du-Caire / Bréziers (21,18 km) 21.06 SS3: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 1 (13,97 km) Friday 24.1. 09.31 SS4: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 (18,68 km) 10.34 SS5: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 (16,68 km) *CANCELLED 11.42 SS6: La Bréole / Selonnet 1 (18,31 km) 15.23 SS7: Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 (18,68 km) 16.26 SS8: Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 (16,68 km) 17.34 SS9: La Bréole / Selonnet 2 (18,31 km) Saturday 25.1. 08.59 SS10: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 (27,00 km) 10.05 SS11: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 (20,85 km) 11.08 SS12: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 (17,85 km) 14.59 SS13: La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 (27,00 km) 16.05 SS14: Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 (20,85 km) 17.08 SS15: La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 (17,85 km) Sunday 26.1. 06.39 SS16: Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 (13,97 km) 08.32 SS17: Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 (19,01 km) 12.15 SS18: La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava (17,92 km) *Power Stage
