World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans has told DirtFish the loss of the final round of the series won’t change his approach to next month’s Rally Italia Sardegna.
The Welshman arrives in Alghero for what is now the season finale with a 17-point lead over Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari, with their colleague Oliver Solberg a further four back. One of the three will be crowned for the first time in Sardinia.
Heading into round 13, Evans knows that a third win of the season will be enough for him to lift his first-ever world title.
“I really don’t think the news [of Rally Saudi Arabia not being included in this year’s WRC] will change a lot,” said Evans. “Not having to sweep [the road] in Saudi may be a benefit, but that would, obviously, have depended on what happened in Sardinia anyway. Like I said, today’s news doesn’t change a whole lot for me.
“Or, at least, not until Sardinia is well underway. What we saw happen in Saudi last year – where me and Séb [Ogier] were kind of together then I had the puncture and I dropped back a bit – but then others ahead of him also had trouble and it put more cars between us… It’s difficult.
“Unless it’s really obvious halfway through that something has happened to the other two (Pajari and Solberg), then you can’t be completely confident in your position.
“With so many points available on Sunday, it can swing everything [in another direction].”
Asked if he preferred his position as the hunted rather than the hunter, he added: “I still have to go there and do a solid job and they do too. They’ve got to either depend on me making a mistake or they’ve got to win to close the gap. But, on the other hand, they have nothing to lose.”
The one aspect which could impact significantly on Rally Italia Sardegna is the one aspect none of the three have any control over: the weather.
The event is running in October for the first time since 2020, which increases the change of rain and lessens the potential for high temperatures – potentially bringing the drivers’ preferred Hankook soft compound Dynapro tire more into play.
Evans concluded: “Rain would make the cleaning effect less and, of course, that’s better first on the road.”
In terms of form on the Italian island, none of the three championship protagonists have ever won, but Evans has plenty of consistency on his side, having finished fourth on six of his last nine starts there.
The news that Rally Saudi Arabia had been dropped from the 2026 FIA WRC calendar – and that it wouldn’t be replaced – came on Thursday. In a joint statement the FIA and WRC Promoter cited ‘ongoing uncertainty in the region’ for the loss of the Jeddah-based event.
