Early Puncture Costly For Unlucky Evans

By Paul Evans

It was far from the perfect start to the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship in Monte Carlo for Elfyn Evans, who was forced to stop and change a punctured front Michelin tyre a third of the way through the opening Sisteron stage – cruelly costing the works M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver almost four minutes.

With only one spare left, Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt then had to be careful in the second Bayons-Bréziers stage – but got through that okay.

“We got a puncture about twelve kilometres into the opening stage and we had to stop and change it,” said Evans. “We had a bit of drama on the ice too.

“We only had one spare for the second stage, so I had to be careful and not be aggressive in the cuts. I’m not feeling happy with the throttle either, and had a half spin in here on the throttle. We can resolve it, but it’s not been a great start.”

But with three days of competition to go, and with many of Evans’ rivals also hitting problems, it’s still possible for the 29-year old Dolgellau driver to score a very good result. And whilst victory now seems unlikely, stranger things have happened on the Monte Carlo Rally.

Despite a spin, reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier leads overnight, 17.3 seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen.