Elfyn Evans has admitted Sunday is now an all or nothing day as he bids to land his maiden World Rally Championship title.
The championship leader has seen a 21-point advantage over team-mate Oliver Solberg whittled away to a ‘virtual’ six going into Sunday – and he knows he has to respond to the Swede’s speed if he wants to lift his maiden title.
“Obviously you’ve got to go all in or nothing now tomorrow,” said Evans. “I haven’t thought too much about numbers, but I think road position is definitely not ideal, because the first one tomorrow is probably the worst stage for cleaning of the whole rally.”
Going into Friday’s penultimate test, Evans was 4.7 seconds ahead of Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux, but he was forced to cede fourth place after a sensational stage win from the Frenchman elevated him past the #33 Toyota.
Reflecting on the implications of starting one place further forward on the road after dropping that place, Evans offered: “We gave it a go in that last one, but I think the stage is evolving so fast that it didn’t look like we had any chance.
“So, another one position in front would have definitely helped that case, but [it was] not to be.
Fourmaux starting four cars after Evans on Saturday's final stage compromised his ability to hold fourth place, regardless of his attempt to up his pace
“It was quite a rough second pass, [I was] perhaps a bit too conservative on the first two.”
While Evans has those six points in hand, Super Sunday offers 10 bonus points split between the overall day classification and the powerstage.
If the overall rally classification remains the same while Solberg is fastest across the day and wins the powerstage, Evans must land five points to be champion. If the pair are tied on points and Solberg takes the overall victory, then the 25-year-old is champion courtesy of three event wins compared to Evans’ two.
