As Saturday approaches, Evans maintains a 4.5-second lead over the nine-time Monte Carlo winner, Ogier, following eight of the 17 stages.
Ogier, renowned for his prowess at his home event, is considered a strong favorite to secure his tenth victory. He finished Friday on a high note, significantly reducing the gap with Evans.
Despite the desire to challenge for victory, Evans has shifted his focus to the championship title. The Welshman is unwilling to take unnecessary risks to outpace his part-time teammate, Ogier.
Evans expressed his strategy, stating, “The plan is clear – I just want to focus on doing my own rally drive well. Of course, we are driving quickly, but I’m not willing to increase the risk level to catch him [Ogier].”
Reflecting on his performance, Evans mentioned, “I’m relatively happy. The day has been clean, and we have had no issues or mistakes. We have just been doing our own thing and not getting drawn into the two guys behind. Things are working okay, but, of course, it is nice to be fast. However, today we were not the fastest.”
Acknowledging the unique challenges of the Monte Carlo rally, Evans emphasized the need to maintain a margin due to the unpredictable conditions. He stated, “It is Monte Carlo at the end of the day.
It is a rally where you have to keep a little bit of a margin, especially with changeable conditions like we have. Like I said at the start, I want to finish if I can, so it’s not an all-out risk for the win. That said, anything can happen, and of course, we are still taking risks but trying to manage them.”
Ogier, who started the day in third place, reflected on his climb up the leaderboard, saying, “I have been trying my best since the start of the event, but last night was not a great start for me. I’m glad that today we managed to be faster. At the end of the day, it is great to be much closer to him [Evans], and the rest of the weekend looks interesting.”
