World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans has described the error on the Gerosa stage on Saturday afternoon that has currently put him out of the Monza Rally and potentially ended his title hopes.
Evans was third overall heading into SS11, but didn’t make it to the end of the stage as the rear-end of his Toyota Yaris WRC went wayward on a tightening corner and he slid down a bank.
The wet and icy conditions on the roads beyond the event’s Monza base almost caught out team-mate Sébastien Ogier too, who currently leads the rally and is on course to take a seventh world championship crown. Evans explained to the WRC’s official broadcast what caught him out:
“At the start of the stage, there was a lot of standing water, but I felt like we were having a clean and tidy run,” said Evans.
“Then it slowly became snowy and I just kept thinking I was going a bit too slow – that was the general feeling.
“The snow got a bit worse, but still the grip we had for the most part was not bad at all. We came around a flat right corner with a short braking and the surface of the Tarmac had changed. When I braked on that, it was just like glass and there was no chance of us slowing down at all. It completely caught me by surprise, but that’s how it goes I guess.”
Mäkinen: No words for Evans crash
Evans' team principal at Toyota Tommi Mäkinen says he has "no words" to describe his retirement.
After one Saturday stage had already been canceled after Gus Greensmith and then Ole Christian Veiby crashed and blocked the road, the next stage on the schedule – Costa Valle Imagna – also got called off as a result of increasing snowfall that most drivers’ wouldn’t have been safely prepared for with their tire selections.
This was one stage too late for Evans, who is now out of the rally while Toyota attempt to bring his car back to service.
“It’s not ideal – that’s more or less game over now, but what can I say? You have to be there, you have to try,” Evans added.
“You’re not going to win anything by sitting around at the back and I think everybody was having to take some sort of chance. I actually had the surface change in my notes but I didn’t anticipate it would be as extreme.
We had a fantastic car and a fantastic crew all year, so obviously I'm disappointedElfyn Evans
“What can you do? It’s tough now, for sure, but that’s how it is. It’s not completely over until it’s over but obviously it’s a lot easier for Seb [Ogier] to get the job done now.”
Ogier holds a 20.4-second lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo heading into the final stage of the day, and while his own championship prospects are looking grand with Evans’ retirement, it has not helped Toyota’s efforts to win the manufacturers title.
“From my side, I’m really gutted for the team to be honest because from the Manufacturers’ side it was looking really good on Toyota Gazoo Racing’s part,” said Evans.
“My mistake has really put a spanner in that job as well, so I’m really sorry.
“We had a fantastic car and a fantastic crew all year, so obviously I’m disappointed for myself but I’m disappointed for them as well.”
