Evans aware any Rovanperä weakness won’t last long

Rovanperä has been far from his best in Monte Carlo, but his team-mate knows it's only a matter of time for that to change

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Don’t be fooled. Kalle Rovanperä’s inability to find the ultimate pace in Monte Carlo has been baffling to onlookers, but his Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans knows what’s around the corner.

Going into the final day of the opening round, the two-time world champion has won one stage, but looked largely at sea when his GR Yaris Rally1 has hit anything like dry Tarmac. A lack of running time on that surface with the new Hankook covers beneath the car has left him scratching his head.

Bringing Saturday to a close with an unspectacular fifth fastest time delivered another frank assessment.

“I found myself again, quite slow,” he said. “I have no answer.”

Talking to DirtFish later in the evening, the suggestion that Sunday might help end the event on a high was greeted with more introspection.

“It depends a lot on what the weather is doing,” he said. “But, of course, how the pace has been today, I don’t think we have much to do.

“It depends on what kind of pace we have tomorrow.”

Truth be told, Rovanperä hasn’t looked lost. He doesn’t do that these days. You don’t take two titles, then lose the ability to drive quickly or understand why your pace might have dipped.

“I just need to drive quicker,” he smiled.

It didn’t take long for the service park chatter to start: was Kalle still in his gap year mode? Was this demonstrating a weakness for the 24-year-old?

Cue the Evans smile. It was a rueful one.

“I wouldn’t,” said the Welshman, “be putting any money on that lasting too long, knowing Kalle.”

He’s right. Let’s see what Sunday brings, but Rovanperä’s plenty canny enough to understand that a mediocre Monte could well lay the foundations for a stunning Sweden, given the preferential place on the road that would bring.

Perhaps the true measure of where he the full-time Finn sits will come three Fridays from now in Bygdsiljum, north of Umeå.

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